The 2025 Phillies

Can the Phillies Follow the Eagles’ Success?

The Eagles thrilled the area with a Super Bowl performance for the ages and a glorious parade that will be talked about by generations of fans.

First baseman Bryce Harper said it was “sick” to watch the Eagles steamroll the Kansas City Chiefs and that it will serve as motivation for the Phillies.

“If I didn’t say I was excited to hopefully do that one day, I’d be nuts because that was pretty electric,” he recently told WIP radio.

The Phillies, who went 95-67 last year and then had a disappointing exit against the New York Mets in the National League Division Series, would like to throw a parade of their own.

But did they do enough in the offseason to generate optimism that they can win their first World Series championship since 2008?

Probably not. Then again, if they add a piece for two before the trade deadline and their pitching is as dominating as it looks, well, Philly may become known as the City of Parades.

The Phils’ biggest offseason moves – acquiring lefty Jesus Luzardo from the Miami Marlins and signing free-agent left fielder Max Kepler – didn’t compare with the trades/signings made by the Dodgers, Mets and Braves, three other teams with the potential to win the National League pennant.

The defending World Series champion Dodgers didn’t sit on their laurels. They added pitchers Blake Snell (a two-time Cy Young Award winner), Roki Sasaki (a Japanese phenom) and lefty relief ace Tanner Scott, while the Mets signed the best free agent on the market, Juan Soto. As for the Braves, the loss of Max Fried hurts, but if Ronald Acuna and Spencer Strider successfully return from injuries, they will boost a dynamic roster. Atlanta shrewdly added outfielder Jurickson Profar.

In the National League, the Dodgers, Braves and Mets appear to be the Phils’ biggest obstacles.

Here is a look at the 2025 Phillies and what needs to happen for them to throw another parade:

Rotation

This category is clearly the team’s strong point.

The rotation starts with Zack Wheeler, a perennial Cy Young candidate who led the National League with a 0.955 WHIP (walks and hits per inning) last season when he was 16-7 with a 2.57 ERA and 224 strikeouts. Over the last five years, he has a 2.94 ERA. That’s the definition of a staff ace.

Aaron Nola (14-8 record, 3.57 ERA) is one of the best No. 2 starters in the majors, though he needs to cut back on the league-high 30 homers he served.

After the Big Two, the Phillies have three lefties, including Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez, two soft-throwing pitchers with great location. Luzardo rounds out the rotation.

Suarez needs to find more consistency. To start last season, he was 10-1 with an ERA around 1.80, making him arguably the league’s Cy Young frontrunner. But after being sidelined by back soreness, he had a 6.54 ERA over his last 11 starts.  He finished 12-8 with a 3.46 ERA.

Sanchez (11-9, 3.32), the owner of an elite changeup, was an All-Star last season and is coming into his own.

Luzardo looked like a rising star after solid performances in 2022 and 2023, but injuries (left elbow, back) limited him to 67 innings last season and his ERA soared to 5.00. He had a 3.48 ERA in 50 combined starts the previous two seasons, and the Phils believe he can regain that form.

Dave Dombrowski, the Phils’ president of baseball operations, said his club did a “thorough” investigation into Luzardo’s health and called him a “quality big-league pitcher who we’ve liked for a few years.”

If Luzardo doesn’t perform well, Taijuan Walker – who was a disaster last season – or promising rookie Andrew Painter could see action. Painter has recovered from Tommy John surgery and was impressive in the Arizona Fall League.

Bullpen

The bullpen has undergone a major shakeup. Gone are Jeff Hoffman – who was brilliant in the regular season but scuffled in the playoffs – and not-too-dazzling Carlos Estevez. They have been replaced by Jordan Romano and Joe Ross. Lefty Matt Strahm (6-2, 1.87 ERA, 11.35 strikeouts per 9 innings) is the best of the bullpen returnees, along with the blossoming Orion Kerkering (5-3, 2.29). The Phils should also get productive innings from Jose Alvarado (2-5, 4.09) and Jose Ruiz (5-1, 3.71).

Romano was a two-time All-Star with Toronto but had elbow surgery last summer. The Phils are betting on him to resemble the pitcher who had 95 saves from 2021 to 2023.

Ross, a veteran righthander, had a 3.77 ERA last year while starting 10 games and relieving 15 others with Milwaukee.

Outfield

On paper, the Phillies didn’t do much to improve the team’s one major weakness. A year ago, the Phils’ outfielders were 28th out of 30 major-league teams with just 53 homers. The outfielders were in the middle of the pack in batting average, 22nd in RBIs, 26th in doubles, and 27th in runs scored.

They signed the left-handed-hitting Kepler to a one-year, $10 million deal and handed him the keys to left field. He will be making an adjustment from playing right field, where he was regarded as a solid defender.

“He hit lefthanders better last year, but he’s traditionally been a better hitter vs. righthanded pitching,” Dombrowski said. “We think he can play vs. both.”

Kepler, 32, who slammed a career-best 36 homers in 2019, won’t remind anyone of Soto, but if he can duplicate his 2023 season – .260 with 24 homers and 66 RBIs for the Twins – the Phillies will be happy.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder was hindered by injuries last year and hit just .253 with eight homers.

Brandon Marsh (.249, 16 HRs) and slick-fielding-but-weak-hitting Johan Rojas (.243, 25 SBs) will get time in center. Marsh had a healthy .372 on-base percentage two years ago but slipped to .328 last season. Nick Castellanos (.254, 23 HRs) handles right field and is either ice-cold or blistering hot at the plate. There seems to be no in-between.

The Phils could have put Bryce Harper in the outfield and signed a big-ticket first baseman like Pete Alonso but decided to go a cheaper route. When you consider their payroll is around $278 million – third highest in the majors, per Spotrac – it was somewhat understandable.

That said, the Phils might add an outfielder before the trade deadline – or a first baseman and shift Harper to the outfield — if they find they need more production.

Infield

The Phillies need second baseman Bryson Stott to get back on track. Yes, Stott stole a team-leading 32 bases, but his batting average slipped from .280 to .245 and his homers dropped from 15 to 11. An elbow injury may have contributed, and a healthy Stott would do wonders for the offense.

The rest of the infield is terrific: third baseman Alec Bohm (.280, 15 HRs, 44 doubles, 97 RBIs), shortstop Trea Turner (.295, 21 HRs, 19 SBs), and the irrepressible Harper (.285, 30 HRs, 87 RBIs).

Turner, who has a lifetime .348 on-base percentage, will probably get lots of time in the leadoff spot, while Kyle Schwarber drops down in the lineup.

Designated Hitter

Speaking of Schwarber…

He showed much better plate discipline last year, cutting down his strikeouts (215 to 197), improving his on-base percentage from .343 to .366, and raising his batting average from .197 to .248. His homers dropped from 47 to 38, but he still finished third in the National League in that category. In his three seasons with the Phils, the 32-year-old Schwarber has slugged 131 homers — more than anyone in the majors not named Aaron Judge (157) or Shohei Ohtani (132).

And, so, if he keeps hitting Schwarbombs, the Phillies figure to try to re-sign him after his contract expires following the 2025 season.

Catcher

J.T. Realmuto, 34, is in the final year of his contract, and he is still productive. The Phils, however, will probably sometimes use him as a DH to give him more rest from his catching duties. He hit .266 with 14 homers a year ago.

Rafael Marchan, provided he can stay healthy, seems destined to get more time behind the plate than last year when he hit .294 with three homers in 51 at-bats.

Bench

Rojas and Edmundo Sosa (.257, 7 HRs in 249 ABs) are the best reserves, and Kody Clemens (5 HRs, 9 doubles in 114 ABs)  can provide the long ball on occasion.

Manager

Is manager Rob Thomson on the hot seat? Some think he should be after making questionable pitching decisions in the last three playoff years. That makes 2025 a pivotal season for him and for the way the team is constructed.

Outlook

The Phillies’ bats and bullpen went cold in last year’s NLDS. Was it a case of bad timing, or is this team not good enough to win a World Series? In the 3-1 series loss to the Mets, the Phillies averaged 1.67 runs in the three defeats, and the bullpen trio of Hoffman (1-2, 40.50 ERA), Alvarado (27.00 ERA) and Strahm (18.00 ERA) were awful in the series.

On paper, the Phils need another hitter who works pitchers into deep counts and gets on base more frequently, especially in the outfield. The Phillies hit just .186 vs. the Mets in the playoffs.

The Braves, decimated by injuries last year, should battle the Phils and Mets for first place in the NL East, and the addition of Profar – an outfielder who gets on base and hits for power – may push Atlanta to the top. (The Braves have reached the postseason seven straight years.)

From here, the Phils will be a wild-card team, and if they make some in-season moves, they could get to the NLCS. The Dodgers, however, loom as the prohibitive favorites.

Prediction:

Phils go 92-70, finish as a wild-card team, and lose to the Dodgers in the NLCS.