J.T. Realmuto's latest injury update has Phillies fans in a state of panic

The Philadelphia Phillies have solidified themselves as the best team in the National League with a 45-20 win-loss record. Plenty of that has to do with their stacked batting order, led by the star Bryce Harper. With the team's early success, the belief is that the team will go all out at the trade deadline to really put them over the edge and to get past teams like the Los Angeles Dodgers or Milwaukee Brewers in the postseason.

But on Tuesday, the Phillies faithful received some bad news.

The Phillies announced that starting catcher J.T. Realmuto was placed on the 10-day injured list, as he was set to undergo surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee on Wednesday. With that, Realmuto is out indefinitely, as there is no firm timetable for a return.

J.T. Realmuto undergoing surgery to repair meniscus in right knee

Matt Gelb of The Athletic noted that Realmuto had been dealing with right knee soreness since early May, but continued to play through it. Even with the extra rest days, Realmuto wasn't feeling any better and decided to get the surgery done as early as possible.

Let's take a look at some of the reactions from Phillies fans after receiving this update from the team.

So who is to replace Realmuto during his absence? Well, we'd have to look at the internal options.

As the team announced in their tweet, the team called up catcher Rafael Marchan from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. This season at Lehigh Valley, Marchan slashed .219/.350/.344 while recording one home run, two runs, five RBI, seven hits, eight strikeouts, and seven walks in 32 at-bats.

On Philadelphia's major league roster already is Garrett Stubbs, who is currently slashing .173/.271/.192 while recording three RBI, six runs, and nine hits in 52 at-bats.

This season, Realmuto recorded a .261 batting average, a .309 on-base percentage, a .411 slugging percentage, seven home runs, 20 RBI, 28 runs, and 54 hits in 207 at-bats.

There is a pretty big drop-off in terms of offensive production with Realmuto sidelined. But for the Phillies fanbase, they are hoping the stint on the injured list will be short, and the All-Star can make a return sooner rather than later.