i like jt realmuto, the philadelphia phillies, baseball, and gay stuff. it is in the eye of the beholder how much of this list is redundant.
he/him | 30+
[via NBCSPhilly] BCIB getting close? J.T. Realmuto got some fielding and hitting practice in before tonight's Phillies vs. Dodgers game / July 11, 2024
I'm sure y'all have seen me posting fics for this "random" pairing for eight months now. Well, I swear it's not random.
Here is everything I could find about J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper's relationship. Long post ahead.
Some sources are behind a paywall. You can either use reader mode or a paywall remover for those.
Last updated: 6/26/26
Background:
J.T.:
grew up a shortstop, drafted as a catcher
grew up catholic, later converted to Evangelism when he met/married his wife
apparently had commitment issues before 2014 (if you want to take his twitter seriously)
was considered the BCIB for a few years, a lot of people now unfairly hate on him because his offense has declined (but he is still an amazing defender)
3rd round pick of the 2010 draft; was drafted later than expected bc of his football background
#10
6'0, super super built
Bryce Harper:
grew up a catcher, drafted as an outfielder
prodigy, 2x MVP, generally one of the best players of his generation
1st round, 1st pick of 2010 draft
#3
became a first baseman after TJ in late 2022
Mormon but like hilariously bad at it (has tattoos, swears, did not go on any missions)
6'1 (but used to be listed as 6'3)
Events in chronological order:
2011-2018: J.T. and Bryce were friendly rivals, as their teams (Bryce on the Nationals, J.T. on the Marlins) often played against each other. J.T. used to rib Bryce when he came up to the plate. They were also briefly minor league rivals when J.T. was on the Greensboro Grasshoppers and Bryce was on the Haggerstown Suns.
2. All-Star Game, July 2018: Bryce set his Nationals hat on J.T.'s head, J.T. played along. This was Bryce pretty clearly campaigning for the Nationals to trade for J.T., as J.T. was rumored to be traded soon (as the Marlins did with all their good players).
3.July 28th 2018: J.T. batted in the winning run against the Nationals in a game. Bryce said afterwards: "If that guy was on our side that wouldn't have happened." When Bryce was HBP in the 9th, J.T. at first base said something behind his glove that made Bryce shove him.
(thanks to @janosglove for the gifs!)
So, at this point, it's pretty obvious that they were friends. Bryce wanted to be teammates with J.T., and they were close enough that they were fucking with each other during games. J.T. also must have been fine with the idea of being teammates with Bryce because he accepted the whole hat thing.
4. February 2019: J.T. got traded to the Phillies, three weeks later, Bryce signed with the Phillies. J.T. was a pretty expensive trade, and I also want to note that it was generally agreed among sports writers at the time that the Phillies traded for J.T. to entice Bryce into signing with them. Here is one example. So, Bryce liked J.T. enough that it's very possible part of the reason he signed with the Phillies was to play with him.
5. February 2019: when Bryce called J.T his favorite player (for the first time) unprompted. (see link from #1 for source).
Here's them after being on the same team for two weeks:
6. August 7th, 2019: Bryce apparently, at this point in time, had 2 photos of J.T. in his locker and a cup with his face on it at home.
7. August 15th, 2019: Bryce Harper hit a walk-off grand slam against the Cubs, J.T. was the first to hug Bryce at home plate and they held each other for a solid 15 seconds.
I implore you to watch the grand slam here at about 3:19:00 ish.
There is more, however:
When Bryce ran into J.T.'s arms, he pretty much threw his helmet at him. Afterwards, he asked J.T. if he was OK, apologized, and J.T. very clearly says thank you (this is at like 3:21:20 of the grand slam video). J.T. also brought him in for another hug. And honestly. One of the most tender things I've ever seen in baseball.
Before the August 15, 2019 game, Bryce acquired a free J.T. shirt and wore it underneath his shirsey for the rest of the season
Bryce appeared to cut the sleeves off of the J.T. shirt and crop it—this photo below was posted august 15th 2019 as well, so I am gonna assume that Bryce wore it that game. At 3:21:01 of the grand slam video, you can see the straps of the shirsey when somebody pulls away Bryce's jersey.
8. November, 2019: J.T. said that Bryce is "misunderstood" and not the villian of baseball.
At this point in time I think it's important to note that J.T. would be a free agent as of Octoberish 2020. Bryce very much wanted to keep J.T. on the Phillies and he was not shy about it. It's also important to note that I think Bryce initially started wearing the shirsey for good luck.
9. July 2020: Bryce acquired a(nother) J.T. shirsey at some point and wore it three days straight for batting practice during the 2020 summer camp. He then proceeded to wear the shirsey beneath his jersey at games for the entire season. He did brush this off when people asked him if he was wearing it to campaign for J.T., but pretty quickly it would become obvious that he was in fact wearing it for that purpose.
Bryce also wore J.T.'s shirt during summer camp, as my friend pointed out in this post here. (I still cannot believe this one). J.T., as of 2025, still owns that shirt.
10. 2020 campaign: Bryce campaigned for the Phillies to sign a contract with J.T. for when he would become a free agent after the season. He yelled "sign him" at an intrasquad game after J.T. homered and mimicked signing something at home plate. So, now it's pretty clear that he was in fact making a statement by wearing the shirsey.
The articles from this time were absolutely insane.
April:
June:
July:
July Again:
(Of course, J.T. who is too humble).
11. October 6th, 2020: Bryce posted an Instagram story of him wearing a Realmuto jersey (this is notably different from the other two we know about, so I am assuming he has at least three J.T. shirts) while boarding a plane with the caption: "3.10 to Vegas/Reppin all winter." 3 is Bryce's jersey number, 10 is J.T.'s jersey number, and of course their numbers together are the iconic 310.
Here we have the third or fourth jersey/shirsey we know about at this point.
12. October 25th, 2020: J.T. and his wife, Lexi fly to Vegas to have dinner with Bryce and his wife, Kayla. Unclear if the kids were there. I am sure they discussed J.T.'s future with the Phillies here, as by this point he was a free agent.
13. December, 2020: journalists started speculating about how Bryce would react if J.T. didn't sign with the Phillies
14. January, 2021: J.T. signed with the Phillies and we got this gem:
15. March 7th, 2021: Bryce wore J.T.'s belt to a spring training game.
13. April 3rd, 2021: Bryce wore J.T.'s shirsey (or jersey, unsure) underneath his jersey again!!!
This is just insane to me because J.T. had already signed with the Phillies. So Bryce was just wearing it for good luck again, I suppose? This picture was also posted by the official Phillies Instagram.
Anyway, those are the main events. As far as I know, Bryce and J.T. were still pretty close from 2021-2023, if we go by pictures:
2024 and on, Bryce chilled out majorly. He kind of moved onto Trea Turner if I'm being honest (that's his new favorite, and good for him). They also were focusing on their own families a lot more.
However, what really shocked me was in 2025, when J.T. was about to be a free agent again, Bryce did not really campaign for J.T. I found one article where Bryce mentioned wanting J.T. to stay with the Phillies, but he included Kyle Schwarber in the same sentence. There are many reasons he might've not campaigned; I think it's likely that it isn't deep and Bryce just thought the Phillies would resign J.T. no matter what (even though we actually almost lost him to Bichette). Or maybe he did campaign, just privately. Or, if I'm allowed to be dramatic, maybe they had a falling out. Who knows?
Misc
J.T. and Bryce were, at some point in their Minor League careers, on teams called the "Suns"
Bryce said his ideal infield would include J.T. as catcher (and he said that recently, in 2025, when J.T. is/was no longer considered the BCIB anymore)
J.T. after Bryce hit a homer: "I told [Bryce Harper] he was going to hit a home run on his birthday, so I'm going to take credit for that one."
their lockers were next to each other at some point—they are not anymore, now they are directly across from each other with doors separating them
They both hit for the cycle in the month of June (pride!!) three years apart
In Conclusion:
They aren't really insane about each other anymore, but that's OK, I have an imagination. I also know that it might come off as one-sided, but I swear J.T. initiates like 70% of touch between them (I have a theory that J.T. didn't get super touchy until he started playing with Bryce but TBH I don't have much to back that up with). They still have a few seasons together. Maybe they will kiss (and make up).
Hopefully y'all understand why I like this pairing so much now. I swear to God I'm not delusional. I will probably add to this in the future.
yesss yess this is a great list >:) i have a bit more content / context to add as someone who's been rpfing on them since 2019
(dates may not be exact / dates are when i saved these images to camera roll)
8/28/2019
normal post-homer picture surely ... except ermmm #10 on the bat handle 👀 (the date on this is correct + i confirmed bryce was using j.t.'s bats during this game)
3/18/2020
#myfavoriteplayer
august-september 2020
nothing specific about these just various images to spread the agenda
3/5/2021
for extra context, after a long off-season rallying for j.t. to get re-signed, j.t. got injured the beginning of that spring training. extra extra context, that did not stop him from attending workouts, drills, and watching games.
3/25/2021
bryce harper's affectionate charades during j.t. realmuto post-game interview
4/16/2021
one-sided my ass!!!
4/30/2021
an all-timer in the harpmuto books. just spent the whole game gossiping in the dugout and poking (then-rookie/sophomore season idk he was a late add in 2020) alec bohm's muscles after he hit a home run soooo farrrr
more various 2019-2022 images that were huge for harpmuto fans everywhere
and the 2022 championship run </3 doomed yaoi begins
i dont think it's a coincidence that they've become less affectionate the more desperate for a championship they are... 2019 was a hopeful new beginning for this team with both of them joining, by the end of the 2022 season we had a gut-wrenching world series loss that still gets called by fans all throughout the area as "their best chance" to this day. in 2023, 2024, 2025 they proceeded to have increasingly disappointing appearances. these days everything feels so desperate, they're only getting older, they're running out of time, they have families now, etc.
in conclusion, all the other teams should let the phillies win the world series so they get back together / make out sloppy style again xo
also i cannot for the LIFE of me find anything proving this but i remember the picture so vividly so y'all will just have to believe me (source: trust me). the images of j.t. realmuto in bryce's locker were edited pictures from the phillies theme nights in 2019. the one i remember specifically seeing was j.t. as the x-wing fighter pilot from star wars night. you could see the pics hanging during bryce's locker room interviews .. so if anyone else has better luck scrubbing for old interviews than me....
I'm sure y'all have seen me posting fics for this "random" pairing for eight months now. Well, I swear it's not random.
Here is everything I could find about J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper's relationship. Long post ahead.
Some sources are behind a paywall. You can either use reader mode or a paywall remover for those.
Last updated: 6/26/26
Background:
J.T.:
grew up a shortstop, drafted as a catcher
grew up catholic, later converted to Evangelism when he met/married his wife
apparently had commitment issues before 2014 (if you want to take his twitter seriously)
was considered the BCIB for a few years, a lot of people now unfairly hate on him because his offense has declined (but he is still an amazing defender)
3rd round pick of the 2010 draft; was drafted later than expected bc of his football background
#10
6'0, super super built
Bryce Harper:
grew up a catcher, drafted as an outfielder
prodigy, 2x MVP, generally one of the best players of his generation
1st round, 1st pick of 2010 draft
#3
became a first baseman after TJ in late 2022
Mormon but like hilariously bad at it (has tattoos, swears, did not go on any missions)
6'1 (but used to be listed as 6'3)
Events in chronological order:
2011-2018: J.T. and Bryce were friendly rivals, as their teams (Bryce on the Nationals, J.T. on the Marlins) often played against each other. J.T. used to rib Bryce when he came up to the plate. They were also briefly minor league rivals when J.T. was on the Greensboro Grasshoppers and Bryce was on the Haggerstown Suns.
2. All-Star Game, July 2018: Bryce set his Nationals hat on J.T.'s head, J.T. played along. This was Bryce pretty clearly campaigning for the Nationals to trade for J.T., as J.T. was rumored to be traded soon (as the Marlins did with all their good players).
3.July 28th 2018: J.T. batted in the winning run against the Nationals in a game. Bryce said afterwards: "If that guy was on our side that wouldn't have happened." When Bryce was HBP in the 9th, J.T. at first base said something behind his glove that made Bryce shove him.
(thanks to @janosglove for the gifs!)
So, at this point, it's pretty obvious that they were friends. Bryce wanted to be teammates with J.T., and they were close enough that they were fucking with each other during games. J.T. also must have been fine with the idea of being teammates with Bryce because he accepted the whole hat thing.
4. February 2019: J.T. got traded to the Phillies, three weeks later, Bryce signed with the Phillies. J.T. was a pretty expensive trade, and I also want to note that it was generally agreed among sports writers at the time that the Phillies traded for J.T. to entice Bryce into signing with them. Here is one example. So, Bryce liked J.T. enough that it's very possible part of the reason he signed with the Phillies was to play with him.
5. February 2019: when Bryce called J.T his favorite player (for the first time) unprompted. (see link from #1 for source).
Here's them after being on the same team for two weeks:
6. August 7th, 2019: Bryce apparently, at this point in time, had 2 photos of J.T. in his locker and a cup with his face on it at home.
7. August 15th, 2019: Bryce Harper hit a walk-off grand slam against the Cubs, J.T. was the first to hug Bryce at home plate and they held each other for a solid 15 seconds.
I implore you to watch the grand slam here at about 3:19:00 ish.
There is more, however:
When Bryce ran into J.T.'s arms, he pretty much threw his helmet at him. Afterwards, he asked J.T. if he was OK, apologized, and J.T. very clearly says thank you (this is at like 3:21:20 of the grand slam video). J.T. also brought him in for another hug. And honestly. One of the most tender things I've ever seen in baseball.
Before the August 15, 2019 game, Bryce acquired a free J.T. shirt and wore it underneath his shirsey for the rest of the season
Bryce appeared to cut the sleeves off of the J.T. shirt and crop it—this photo below was posted august 15th 2019 as well, so I am gonna assume that Bryce wore it that game. At 3:21:01 of the grand slam video, you can see the straps of the shirsey when somebody pulls away Bryce's jersey.
8. November, 2019: J.T. said that Bryce is "misunderstood" and not the villian of baseball.
At this point in time I think it's important to note that J.T. would be a free agent as of Octoberish 2020. Bryce very much wanted to keep J.T. on the Phillies and he was not shy about it. It's also important to note that I think Bryce initially started wearing the shirsey for good luck.
9. July 2020: Bryce acquired a(nother) J.T. shirsey at some point and wore it three days straight for batting practice during the 2020 summer camp. He then proceeded to wear the shirsey beneath his jersey at games for the entire season. He did brush this off when people asked him if he was wearing it to campaign for J.T., but pretty quickly it would become obvious that he was in fact wearing it for that purpose.
Bryce also wore J.T.'s shirt during summer camp, as my friend pointed out in this post here. (I still cannot believe this one). J.T., as of 2025, still owns that shirt.
10. 2020 campaign: Bryce campaigned for the Phillies to sign a contract with J.T. for when he would become a free agent after the season. He yelled "sign him" at an intrasquad game after J.T. homered and mimicked signing something at home plate. So, now it's pretty clear that he was in fact making a statement by wearing the shirsey.
The articles from this time were absolutely insane.
April:
June:
July:
July Again:
(Of course, J.T. who is too humble).
11. October 6th, 2020: Bryce posted an Instagram story of him wearing a Realmuto jersey (this is notably different from the other two we know about, so I am assuming he has at least three J.T. shirts) while boarding a plane with the caption: "3.10 to Vegas/Reppin all winter." 3 is Bryce's jersey number, 10 is J.T.'s jersey number, and of course their numbers together are the iconic 310.
Here we have the third or fourth jersey/shirsey we know about at this point.
12. October 25th, 2020: J.T. and his wife, Lexi fly to Vegas to have dinner with Bryce and his wife, Kayla. Unclear if the kids were there. I am sure they discussed J.T.'s future with the Phillies here, as by this point he was a free agent.
13. December, 2020: journalists started speculating about how Bryce would react if J.T. didn't sign with the Phillies
14. January, 2021: J.T. signed with the Phillies and we got this gem:
15. March 7th, 2021: Bryce wore J.T.'s belt to a spring training game.
13. April 3rd, 2021: Bryce wore J.T.'s shirsey (or jersey, unsure) underneath his jersey again!!!
This is just insane to me because J.T. had already signed with the Phillies. So Bryce was just wearing it for good luck again, I suppose? This picture was also posted by the official Phillies Instagram.
Anyway, those are the main events. As far as I know, Bryce and J.T. were still pretty close from 2021-2023, if we go by pictures:
2024 and on, Bryce chilled out majorly. He kind of moved onto Trea Turner if I'm being honest (that's his new favorite, and good for him). They also were focusing on their own families a lot more.
However, what really shocked me was in 2025, when J.T. was about to be a free agent again, Bryce did not really campaign for J.T. I found one article where Bryce mentioned wanting J.T. to stay with the Phillies, but he included Kyle Schwarber in the same sentence. There are many reasons he might've not campaigned; I think it's likely that it isn't deep and Bryce just thought the Phillies would resign J.T. no matter what (even though we actually almost lost him to Bichette). Or maybe he did campaign, just privately. Or, if I'm allowed to be dramatic, maybe they had a falling out. Who knows?
Misc
J.T. and Bryce were, at some point in their Minor League careers, on teams called the "Suns"
Bryce said his ideal infield would include J.T. as catcher (and he said that recently, in 2025, when J.T. is/was no longer considered the BCIB anymore)
J.T. after Bryce hit a homer: "I told [Bryce Harper] he was going to hit a home run on his birthday, so I'm going to take credit for that one."
their lockers were next to each other at some point—they are not anymore, now they are directly across from each other with doors separating them
They both hit for the cycle in the month of June (pride!!) three years apart
In Conclusion:
They aren't really insane about each other anymore, but that's OK, I have an imagination. I also know that it might come off as one-sided, but I swear J.T. initiates like 70% of touch between them (I have a theory that J.T. didn't get super touchy until he started playing with Bryce but TBH I don't have much to back that up with). They still have a few seasons together. Maybe they will kiss (and make up).
Hopefully y'all understand why I like this pairing so much now. I swear to God I'm not delusional. I will probably add to this in the future.
hey so was anyone going to tell me about bryce wearing this why am i just noticing it now. i know why it's bc wearing jt's actual name on his back was insane enough to miss anything else but like. WOW
for reference:
this is insane. 2020 bryce harper i have to study your brain
jt realmuto getting his first career cycle as a phillie in june 2023 and bryce harper getting his first career cycle as a phillie in june 2026 i used to pray for RPF like this
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