The Philadelphia Phillies are off to a strong start this season. Going 7-3 over the first week and a half has put them in the driver's seat in the NL East. Taking two of three from the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers certainly helped give Phillies nation a big boost of early confidence.
How have the Phillies gotten off to this start? They have received contributions from up and down the roster. Some players have been hot, while others are struggling to get their games in order.
While it's always easy to overreact to spring training results, if you thought spring training was any indication of how well a player would start the season, you might have been fooled.
During spring training, we witnessed the early ups and downs of many Philadelphia Phillies players. Some Phillies players had a spring worth remembering, whereas others would much rather forget the spring and put it completely behind them.
5 Phillies flipping the script from spring training early in the 2025 regular season
With the regular season underway, we have seen some of Philadelphia’s hottest players during training camp cool down considerably. While others who struggled in Grapefruit League action have found a way to turn things around and have been making huge contributions to the team's early success.
Let’s take a closer look at five Phillies players who have definitely flipped the script from spring training, so far, early in the 2025 regular season.
Max Kepler
As one of the Phillies' key offseason signings, Max Kepler was leaned upon to be a potential solution to their outfield situation. After all, Kepler had shown to be a solid and consistent contributor from both an offensive and defensive standpoint during most of his time with the Minnesota Twins.
The 32-year-old outfielder showed exactly that promise during training camp with the Phillies. He put up eye-popping numbers across the board. In 17 games, Kepler posted a stellar .375 average and 1.175 OPS, along with seven runs scored, three doubles, three home runs and 11 RBIs.
Not only that, he displayed tremendous plate discipline, with 10 walks and just nine strikeouts in 50 plate appearances. With that performance, it made it easy for the Phillies to forget about last season's disappointing trade deadline acquisition Austin Hays.
However, once the regular season rolled around, Kepler has been just a shadow of that performance. Despite a three-hit home debut, in eight games, he has recorded just five hits for a feeble .172 batting average to go along with a .678 OPS, with just one home run and one RBI.
Nevertheless, Kepler has managed to maintain his good plate approach with seven walks and just six strikeouts in 36 plate appearances. Things should start to come around for him soon if he keeps that up, but he will still need to put up some more consistent numbers before he sees his playing time in left field cut back going forward.