J.T. Realmuto to undergo surgery on right knee Wednesday

J.T. Realmuto, one of the Phillies’ most indispensable players, will undergo right knee meniscectomy surgery Wednesday in Philadelphia.

He was placed on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 10) but will obviously miss much more time than that. The Phillies’ terminology was “knee pain.” Realmuto has been dealing with but playing through soreness in the knee for about a month.

Mike Trout underwent a partial medial meniscectomy on May 10 and the timetable for MLB players returning from that procedure typically ranges from 4-to-8 weeks. Players return more quickly from that procedure than from a full meniscus repair. It is unclear, however, if Realmuto is facing the same injury or a similar timeline.

More should be known later Tuesday. Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is scheduled to meet with reporters in Boston before a three-game series with the Red Sox.

The Phillies have depth at plenty of positions but not behind the plate. They called up Rafael Marchan from Triple A and he will tag-team the position with Garrett Stubbs. There is little depth beyond them, and the Phillies may very well have to go out and acquire another catcher.

They are 25 games over .500 with a nine-game lead over the skidding Braves, so they have wiggle room. But losing Realmuto for any length of time is a major blow. He provides as much all-around value as any catcher in baseball with his production offensively, defensively, on the bases, game-planning and calling games. He’s also one of the unquestioned, unspoken leaders of the team.

Despite catching hundreds more innings than anyone in the majors since the Phillies acquired him, he had spent just 10 days on the injured list since 2019.

Two weeks ago, Nick Castellanos referred to Realmuto as the Phillies’ backbone.

They’ll be without it for the time being.