Starkville | Catching Up with J.T. Realmuto

From Rates & Barrels: A show about Baseball The Athletic

J.T. Realmuto returns to Starkville this week, joining Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville to talk about everything from his last appearance on the show (which happened on a golf course) to catching Cristopher Sánchez, facing Jacob Misiorowski, and the unforgettable time Freddie Freeman kicked dirt on him.

Plus, Jayson and Doug weigh in on Manny Machado's criticism of analytics and what it says about the modern game, and Jo Adell makes another appearance in Strange But True — though this chapter of the story isn't nearly as triumphant as the last one.

Rundown:

2:50 Manny Machado Dislikes Analytics

13:55 J.T. Realmuto Joins the Show

14:48 Golfing with Kyle Schwarber

16:58 From Thomson to Mattingly

21:30 Catching Cristopher Sánchez

25:11 Sánchez vs. Misiorowski

29:12 Adjusting to ABS

32:38 Being a Catcher in 2026

37:41 2026 Team Expectations

41:21 Realmuto & Freeman’s Dust-Up

43:10 Strange But True: Jo Adell