As the excitement continues to build for the 2025 MLB season, the Philadelphia Phillies are getting ready to defend their first division title since all the way back in 2011. The upcoming campaign feels like it could very well be the last shot for this exact team to win a championship, as free agency will shake up the core in a big way come next winter.
While there has been a ton of uncertainty surrounding the Phillies, there's still no denying that their roster as currently assembled is packed with talent. MLB Network wholeheartedly agrees with that, as they just recently put a total of five Phillies inside of their Top 100 Players Right Now list for the upcoming season.
Of course, there are still some negatives to be pulled out of this, even though it is nice to see the Phillies getting love from around the industry. Let's dive in to who made the cut and why there's a sense that this team is nothing but a ticking time bomb as of right now.
Phillies players in MLB Network's Top 100 highlights ticking time bomb
Here's a look at which Phillies made MLB Network's Top 100, with their ranks in last year's list in there for good measure.
- 12. Bryce Harper (last year: 11)
- 19. Zack Wheeler (last year: 28)
- 35. Trea Turner (last year: 16)
- 65. Kyle Schwarber (last year: 57)
- 80. J.T. Realmuto (last year: 46)
Among these five players, there's a very specific trait that all of them share: they're all over 30 years old. Fortunately, they're all still playing at high levels, but it's more than a little concerning that there's no young blood on the Phillies featured here.
Schwarber and Realmuto are both scheduled to hit free agency at the conclusion of the upcoming season, which is where a bit of pressure and uncertainty come into play. Harper, Wheeler and Turner are all locked up long-term, with Wheeler being the first to hit free agency in 2028.
The Phillies are an old team right now, but there's some help coming from the minor leagues. Johan Rojas has already reached The Show, but he's far from a sure thing. However, Andrew Painter, Mick Abel and Seth Johnson are all right on the cusp of the big leagues; with Justin Crawford and perhaps Aidan Miller not far behind.
There's a ton of pressure on the 2025 Phillies to win, because there's a very good chance that there are some major changes coming. Sometimes change can be good, but sometimes messing with something that works doesn't end up working out in the end.
The fact that some reinforcements are coming may make the pending departures of veterans easier to swallow, but they're going to need to perform and not flop like Rojas has to this point. Painter feels like a lock to make a Top 100 list in the very near future, but it remains to be seen just how high the other top prospects can climb such a list as they reach and eventually stick in the major leagues.
While the Phillies will try to extend Realmuto and Schwarber this spring to bridge the gap to the youth movement, they may be forced to let the aging veterans hit the open market and fill their spots with up-and-coming prospects sooner than they'd like. The pressure is so high all around because if the young guns can't come up and perform right away, this entire plan falls apart before it even gets off the ground.