Going from no baseball to a full schedule in the dead of summer could really wear them out quick: But why open camp with a third catcher? They are not going to get worn out in the first week, two or even third week.
And as dontcare mentioned if Contreras is the DH and the catcher gets hurt they can't just swap Contreras in without losing the DH slot, just the rules of the DH:
This also doesn't make sense to me because what are the odds that our catcher goes down earlier enough in a game that it will matter? It would make more sense to me if Phegley was a great defensive catcher but he isn't. To me it seems we would be better suited in this unlikely event to pinch hit for the pitcher, then you could get favorable match ups against relievers who are locked into facing three batters.
Lets be honest, unless a guy is pitching like Hendricks last night, even if Caratini got hurt in the fourth, the odds of the starting pitcher having to bat more than one more time is slim. Pitchers usually get pulled around the 6th inning, then you pinch hit as you would if there was no DH.
Phegley isn't even a very good hitter, against righties he is pretty much unplayable (.600 OPS) and he doesn't exactly murder lefties either (.730 OPS). Considering odds are we will have one of Bote, Kipnis or Hoerner on the bench at any given time, I'd rather one of them face a lefty.
It just doesn't make sense to me but I'm not in the dugout. Maybe the guy is a tremendous locker room presence but his pros/cons risk/reward isn't high enough to warrant that decision to give him a roster spot in my opinion.