Realmuto’s toughness, Phillies’ adjustments in grueling conditions lead to

ST. LOUIS — J.T. Realmuto wasn’t sure when he went to sleep Tuesday night whether he’d be able to play early Wednesday afternoon.

The turnaround until he’d have to report back to Busch Stadium for the Phillies’ series finale against the Cardinals was about 10 hours and he had experienced dizziness, a sore throat and a headache behind his right eye.

Zack Wheeler had spiked a curveball in the seventh inning of the middle game of the series that bounced up and made direct contact with Realmuto’s throat. Fortunately for the All-Star catcher and the Phillies, the ball missed anything structural and made contact with the right side of Realmuto’s neck, above the collarbone.

The impact temporarily restricted blood circulation, which caused some dizziness.

“Right away, I got pretty dizzy,” he said. “The neck, the throat is obviously sore but that’s just normal soreness from a contusion, that doesn’t bother me. I got dizzy right away and then a headache behind my right eyeball, it was only on the right side. That kind of persisted while I was in the training room after the game, but that went away once I went to sleep.

“Going to bed, I wasn’t sure if the headache was going to continue through the night or if it was just going to go away. I slept good last night, didn’t get woken up with any pain, woke up and felt fine, texted (head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit) and told him I’d be good to go.”

None of his teammates were surprised. Realmuto has earned the reputation of “gamer” and “tough guy” by catching a zillion innings every year and rarely missing time. He’s been on the injured list for 10 days in his six seasons as a Phillie despite catching 305 more innings than anyone in the majors the last four.

“That guy’s a gamer, man,” Aaron Nola said. “I don’t think I’ve seen J.T. ever come out of a game. To get that guy out of the game, I guess you’ve got to hit him in the throat.”

Realmuto didn’t just play, he had a big day at the plate. He went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and reached on a two-base error in the first inning on a hard-hit ball to deep center that was muffed in the rain and wind by Victor Scott II.

He also had his work cut out behind the dish trying to navigate the Phillies’ pitching staff through grueling conditions that diminished the stuff of the arms on both sides.

Nola battled through six innings without his usual command or velocity. He had to adjust his delivery, cutting down his stride to avoid slipping. The alteration resulted in uncharacteristic wildness. Nola went 3-0 to three hitters in the first inning and walked three on the afternoon. He’s dealt with rain, wind, frigid temperatures or all of the above in his first three starts.

“I think right off the bat, obviously it was kind of difficult, it was wet and slushy on the mound, the balls were wet,” Nola said. “But battled through it, dried up there in the sixth, felt better in the sixth than I did all game. It was a grind for sure but we…