Garrett Stubbs still grinding in minor leagues after being removed from Phillies’ 40-man roster

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Garrett Stubbs made the most of his opportunity on the basepaths after reaching first on a third-strike passed ball for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in the second inning on Friday night.

With two outs and center fielder Pedro León at the plate, the 32-year-old catcher got the jump he wanted and stole second base with ease. When León proceeded to beat out a soft dribbler that pulled the first baseman forward, Stubbs rounded third and had no plans of stopping, as he beat the pitcher’s awkward throw home and drew first blood for the IronPigs en route to a 7-2 victory at Coca-Cola Park.

It wasn’t difficult for Stubbs to pounce on his shot, since he’s worked with enough pitchers to know “it’s a tough play” for one to turn around and make the throw.

“The timing of it ended up being good on our side,” Stubbs said. “He ended up making a good throw, just ended up beating it. I didn’t even expect him to make as good a throw as he did.”

Stubbs has been making plays left and right for the IronPigs in the early stages of the 2026 season. He’s recorded six hits in just five games played for a .333 batting average and a 1.288 OPS. While he’s continued to receive most of his reps behind the dish, his versatility around the field has also been evident in his starts at third and left field.

“Whether it’s the big leagues or Triple-A or wherever, going to try to put up good at-bats, going to try to play defense as best as I can, whether it’s catcher or third base or maybe left field,” Stubbs said. “It doesn’t matter what level it’s at. Just gonna play the game the way I know how.”

Not only is he bringing seven years of major-league experience to Lehigh Valley, but he’s also bringing the vibes.

“I like to have fun,” he said. ”I think that’s why we all started playing this game. You can’t have fun if you don’t win. Done some good winning here early on, brought the snorkel back with the beer bong, so hopefully we can win some more games so we can get some new guys underneath that.”

The role of vibes manager is nothing new for Stubbs, who made a name for himself as the Phillies’ clubhouse DJ, although he admitted the aux rotation in the IronPig’s clubhouse is “a mixed bag.”

“DJ by democracy is how I like to do it,” Stubbs said.

Stubbs has been dealt multiple hands of adversity in the past year in his pursuit of reclaiming a spot on the Phillies’ active roster. He previously served as the No. 2 behind J.T. Realmuto from 2022 to 2024 before being optioned to Triple-A to start 2025 in favor of Rafael Marchán. Stubbs appeared in 71 games for the IronPigs last year, hitting .265 with a .754 OPS.

After once again not making the Phillies’ Opening Day roster in 2026, the organization designated Stubbs for assignment on March 25 as they failed to find a trade for him. As fate would have it, Stubbs cleared waivers and was sent back to the IronPigs just three days later.

IronPigs manager Anthony Contreras has sung praises about Stubbs’ resilience through the process, calling him a “veteran that goes about his business.”

“He’s been a big energy source for us inside that clubhouse,” Contreras said. “Anytime he’s on the field, he plays the game hard every single day that I put him in the lineup, and he keeps it fresh. And that’s kind of what you want in a long Triple-A season.”

Stubbs is just a call away from the Phillies if anything were to happen to Realmuto or Marchán. Alternatively, he could become a viable bench option for the club as he continues to get reps at multiple positions. Utility player Dylan Moore earned the final bench spot over Stubbs because of his positional versatility, but Stubbs could potentially be an alternative for that role in case Moore goes down at any point.

“Anytime you’re adjusting to playing multiple positions, you’ve got to kind of get into that routine of working at the position the day you’re playing it, and the next day you’re doing something else,” Contreras said. “It takes a little time to get used to, but just knowing his work ethic, he’s willing to get better at those things, he should be able to move along.”

Regardless of whether he rides out the year with the IronPigs or eventually gets the nod back to the Phillies, Stubbs is looking forward to keeping the ball rolling.

“There’s plenty of new things that I’ll learn this year, just like last year and all 32 years that I’ve been playing this game,” Stubbs said.