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The Philadelphia Phillies are beginning the 2023 season without two of their most prolific hitters.
Rhys Hoskins is out for the season with a torn ACL, while Bryce Harper recovers from Tommy John surgery.
As such, the team has stumbled out of the gates, starting off 0-3 after being swept by the Texas Rangers.
However, one of their stars is already in midseason form.
Despite their ugly start, J.T. Realmuto, who is arguably the best catcher in all of baseball, continues to shut down the running game.
On Sunday, he nabbed Marcus Semien at second base, who was attempting to steal in the bottom of the first inning.
They’re still running on him and we don’t know why pic.twitter.com/2rAhi2CP1y
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 2, 2023
Semien is a very fast runner.
Needless to say, throwing him out while trying to steal is no easy task.
However, Realmuto certainly made it look easy, as he stepped up and quickly fired a strike to his new teammate in Trea Turner.
And it was just enough to nab the speedy Semien as the Phillies erased a leadoff single.
Unfortunately, it was not enough to stop the Rangers from improving to 3-0 on the young season.
With a 2-1 loss, the defending National League champions suffered a sweep against the new-look Rangers and dropped to 0-3.
Still, Realmuto showed why running against him is futile and why it usually ends poorly for the opposition.
The Phillies will now head east and deal with the New York Yankees.
Taijuan Walker will make his Phillies debut on Monday night as the defending NL champs face lefty Nestor Cortes.
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