The Philadelphia Phillies' 2025 offseason has been different than more recent past winters, mainly due to the fact that the club's payroll has now breached the highest luxury tax threshold of $301 million.
This winter was going to be less active, and the organization was likely not going to sign another huge free agent due to the current payroll status. However, the Phillies made some moves that they believe have improved the club.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski aimed to better the club by signing or trading for affordable options in Jordan Romano, Max Kepler, Jesús Luzardo and Joe Ross.
If healthy, Luzardo will likely be the most impactful acquisition of the winter to date. However, the offense is arguably the area in which the club had to improve the most. Kepler is likely not a needle mover in that regard. Despite not making a major move, the Phillies' offensive pieces may be set as spring training approaches.
If the season were to start today, here is a look at how manager Rob Thomson may assemble his 2025 lineup.
Phillies 2025 Opening Day lineup prediction 1.0
- Kyle Schwarber DH
- Trea Turner SS
- Bryce Harper 1B
- Alec Bohm 3B
- Nick Castellanos RF
- Bryson Stott 2B
- J.T. Realmuto C
- Max Kepler LF
- Brandon Marsh CF
Barring any other moves, this appears to be the positional setup for the Phillies entering 2025. Thomson could switch up the order should an injury occur or certain players over or underperform.
Leaving Schwarber in the leadoff spot has been controversial at times, however, it is difficult to argue with his success setting the table. In 2024, the Phillies' designated hitter mashed 15 leadoff home runs. Having an early lead for pitchers is something that cannot be overlooked.
Schwarber led qualified Phillies' hitters in walk rate and was second in on-base percentage behind only Harper. He does not just hit home runs; the 31-year-old gets on base as much, if not more, than his teammates.
The next two spots in the lineup are likely set. Turner's speed makes him a prime top-of-the-order candidate, and he has mainly hit second throughout his time in Philadelphia. Harper is a prototypical three-hole hitter with combined power, speed and ability to get on base.
Bohm is not the ideal cleanup hitter due to his lack of home run power, but he did see success batting behind Harper for the majority of the 2024 season. Other than Castellanos, there is no one else who really has more longball potential than the third baseman.
This leads to the right fielder batting behind Bohm. It is the only spot where Thomson could go back-to-back right-handed hitters in the lineup due to the power needed from the four and five holes.
Behind Castellanos, the Phillies will want to get a left-handed bat who can get on base consistently and that is where Stott will need to improve from 2024. The second baseman dropped off in nearly every statistical category from 2023 to last year, possibly due to a lingering elbow injury. His resurgence to his previous form will be one of the more crucial aspects to keep the offense consistent.
While he is getting older, Realmuto is still a solid MLB catcher. Batting in seventh puts the Phillies in a good spot to break up some of the left-handed bats and provides some power potential lower in the order.
The eighth and ninth spots in the order could comprise of the remaining outfielders. Kepler has shown flashes of being able to be a solid bottom-of-the-order type hitter when healthy and, according to the Phillies, will play every day.
That leaves a potential platoon situation in center field with Rojas and Marsh. The latter could hit higher in the lineup if his bat gets hot, which it has been prone to do at times. Likely, these two will round out the bottom of the order in many cases.
Batting orders change all the time over the course of a season; however, this is one possible scenario that Thomson may use entering the new season.