The Philadelphia Phillies’ 2025 season may only be just two games old, but much has already happened to keep the fanbase on its toes. An exciting extra-inning win in their season opener against the Washington Nationals, followed by a slugfest win on Saturday has the team off to a great start.
However, the Phillies have also had their worries, in particular on the injury front, despite being still so early in the season. More importantly, it has impacted some of their key players on the roster who will be vital to their success in 2025. Here’s a look at the updates for those Phillies players as we assess how much we should actually be worried about it.
Ranger Suárez making progress on injured list
As one of the key cogs in the starting rotation in recent years, the Phillies learned just a few days prior to the start of the season that Ranger Suárez had to begin the year on the injured list. Suárez was suffering from lower-back issues, which was a concerning ailment that he endured for a significant stretch last season as well.
In terms of the latest update on his situation, Phillies manager Rob Thomson stated that after a 26-pitch bullpen session on Saturday, both Suárez and his velocity looked good, as per Lochlahn March of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He will be reassessed again on Sunday and if everything works out, he will proceed to get closer to getting back to game action with an up-down bullpen session. The positive update sure bodes well for the Phillies as their rotation has looked strong already coming out of the gate.
Trea Turner’s surprise scratch leads to concerns over his back
As for star shortstop Trea Turner, he had been looking forward to some redemption this season after struggling somewhat down the stretch in 2024. Things didn’t go as well during spring training when he managed to post just a .179 batting average and .590 OPS with one home run and five RBIs in 16 games played. Turner followed that up with an 0-for-4 season debut with a walk and a strikeout.
But what the Phillies should be worried about more was the fact that he was surprisingly scratched late from the lineup on Saturday with lower back spasms, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Zolecki provided a further update on the situation following the Phillies’ 11-6 win, indicating that the 31-year-old shortstop had actually been bothered by his bad back since late in training camp. Eventually it tightened up during Opening Day and Turner felt it again taking ground balls during batting practice on Saturday.
Trea Turner felt something in his back taking ground balls during BP today. Felt back tighten up late on Opening Day. Previously, it had started to bother him late in camp.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) March 29, 2025
He says he's feeling better, but we'll see if he plays tomorrow. Rob Thomson said he won't push it.
On a positive note, Turner doesn’t have a defined history of back ailments like Suárez. However, it’s still concerning for one of the Phillies’ top stars to go down so early with an injury that could leave him out of the lineup for days, and potentially weeks, depending on the severity.
J.T. Realmuto gives fans early scare after leaving Saturday’s game
If the Turner surprise wasn’t worrisome enough, the baseball gods likely want to test the Phillies’ resilience to start their 2025 campaign by turning their attention to catcher J.T. Realmuto as well. During the game against the Nationals on Saturday, Realmuto had to leave the game due to a bruised left foot. Backup Rafael Marchán came in as his replacement in the seventh inning.
The good news is the fact that his removal from the game was more for precautionary measures by the Phillies, according to Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer. That was further aided by the fact that X-rays came back negative for Realmuto following the game, as per Zolecki.
X-rays on J.T. Realmuto's bruised left foot were negative.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) March 30, 2025
With Philadelphia already down Turner, losing another superstar is the absolute last thing that they need to build early momentum to start the year. Hopefully, without much worry, a little rest should be enough to get Realmuto back into the lineup soon as they look forward to their home opener on Monday against the Colorado Rockies.