CLEARWATER -- The Phillies' decision to re-sign Aaron Nola this winter could prove to have as much of an impact on their three-time All-Star catcher as it does on the starting rotation itself.

After all, not only has J.T. Realmuto caught more innings from Nola than any other pitcher, but by bringing back Nola, the Phils' Opening Day roster has the potential to consist exclusively of pitchers who were on the team last year. That luxury has freed up countless hours this offseason, and especially this spring, for Realmuto to focus his attention elsewhere.

"There's a comfortability that comes with already having worked with pretty much all of them a substantial amount," Realmuto said. "That's the hardest part of the first few weeks is not always knowing your guys really well and having to learn them on the fly. But having so many of the same guys, it's definitely going to make my job easier."

Nola and Realmuto were back at it on Friday afternoon, with the former allowing four runs over three innings in the Phillies' 6-6 split-squad tie with the Marlins at BayCare Ballpark. Ranger Suárez, meanwhile, struck out two over three scoreless innings in his spring debut in a 4-2 loss to the Tigers in Lakeland.

Barring injury, those two will join Zack Wheeler, Taijuan Walker and Cristopher Sánchez in the rotation. As for the bullpen, six of the eight spots are almost certain to be holdovers, while returnees Connor Brogdon and Dylan Covey have the inside track for the other two.

It's a sense of continuity that the Phillies' pitching staff has not had in recent seasons -- particularly in 2023.

At this point a year ago, Realmuto was preparing to leave for the World Baseball Classic, which would take him out of camp for nearly three weeks. While the lost spring innings with guys like Wheeler and Nola weren't overly concerning, it meant Walker pitched to Realmuto only twice in Grapefruit League action in his first season with the club.

Meanwhile, injuries forced Matt Strahm into the Opening Day rotation after not pitching to Realmuto in any of his six Grapefruit League outings. His first three regular-season starts came with backup catcher Garrett Stubbs behind the dish, meaning Strahm's first time throwing to Realmuto in a 2023 game came on April 20.

"It was definitely a learning curve for J.T. and I once the season was going; we were still talking through stuff in August and September," Strahm said. "So it's going to be great already having all that information going into the year instead of him trying to learn a new pitcher and me learn a new catcher during the season."

There won’t be any need for that this year.

Nola has 441 more innings throwing to Realmuto than any other catcher. Wheeler has 303 more. Suárez has logged five times as many innings with Realmuto than anyone else. Even Walker and Sánchez now have a full year with Realmuto.

“It helps tremendously; I don't ever want to take that for granted,” Nola said. “Having J.T. is definitely a blessing, and it's awesome to still work with him.”

Typically, Realmuto dives right into watching film on any pitcher the Phillies sign or acquire. He then compares his own notes -- how they pitch, what they like to use in certain counts, go-to strike pitch, etc. -- to the reports provided by the coaching staff to see how his initial impression stacks up to the actual data.

Then, of course, there's the many conversations and meetings during Spring Training, along with many hours on the backfields getting familiar with one another. Without any of that to worry about this year, the extra time has freed up Realmuto to focus more on his own work.

It couldn’t come at a better time for the most-used catcher in baseball over the past five seasons. Realmuto, who turns 33 on March 18, has logged 4,677 innings in his five seasons with the Phillies. Only one other catcher has caught even 4,000 innings during that span -- and he's a distant second to Realmuto (Martín Maldonado, 4,206 2/3).

Not to mention, Realmuto is coming off a 2023 season in which he posted a .762 OPS, his lowest since 2015 with the Marlins -- his first full MLB season.

“It's definitely been a laid back camp so far,” Realmuto said. “Everyone is focused on getting their work in. There's not a ton of new faces, so it's very comfortable. Guys know what we need to do to get better, and we're all doing it.”