There has been a lot of attention paid to how the Philadelphia Phillies should construct their batting order over the last two seasons, with valid arguments to be made about keeping Kyle Schwarber in the leadoff spot after slugging an MLB record 15 home runs out of the first spot in the batting order last year. That's to say, Phillies fans have gotten mighty used to seeing a "Schwarbomb" take flight to leadoff a ball game. And if it ain't broke, why fix it?
Prior to this season, the idea of inserting shortstop Trea Turner into the leadoff spot has always been the counterargument to sticking with an unconventional hitter like Schwarber at the top of the batting order. The main consideration for this swap has mostly involved speed, and as Phillies fans know well by now, Turner is elite in that category with 279 career steals already on his MLB résumé. It's pretty clear that if you combine Turner's speed and historically high career on-base-percentage together (.348), the Phillies' lineup with Turner leading off would likely present a different type of pressure on rival pitchers and catchers at the start of games as they would immediately have to focus more attention on controlling the running game.
Sure sounds like Rob Thomson is already tired of talking about the Phillies’ lineup
That's why it was good news when Phillies manager Rob Thomson put an end to the debate when speaking to the media during spring training, as the third-year skipper plan's to use two batting orders to begin the season. Who leads off games at times promises to look a lot different when the Phillies face left-handed starting pitching to begin the year. Following a spring training camp that offered the first evidence that the Phillies are going to operate differently in 2025, Thomson's new-look batting order with Turner leading off made its debut on Opening Day with a lefty on the mound.
Thomson spoke to the media ahead of the Phillies' Opening Day tilt against the Washington Nationals, as shared by On Pattison's Tim Kelly. While being asked about his plans for using two lineups at times to begin the year, Thomson was asked if the speculation surrounding the batting order was blown out of proportion. The veteran manager responded with, "No doubt, I [already] talk about it every day."
But speaking about the benefits of swapping Turner and Schwarber out of the leadoff spot, Thomson doubled down on why he thinks it could be effective for the Phillies this season.
"I'm just going to try and wiggle it with Trea leading off versus lefties and Schwarber leading off versus righties, and we'll see where we go from there," Thomson said.
.@TimKellySports: “Do you feel like almost too much is made about lineup order?”
— On Pattison (@OnPattison) March 27, 2025
Rob Thomson: “No doubt. I talk about it every day.” pic.twitter.com/47dAa0KYFS
The switch comes after Schwarber hit an impressive .300 with 63 hits, 12 home runs and 38 RBIs against left-handers last season, while also slugging .491 in 210 at-bats. Topper said that it was done to get Turner and Bohm's right-handed bats more action this season at the top of the lineup.
Thomson kept his promise and penciled in his revamped batting order on Opening Day, with Nationals southpaw MacKenzie Gore toeing the rubber. Thomson's lineup featured Turner in the lead off spot, followed by Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber, thus giving the batting order a righty-lefty-righty-lefty setup against the lefty Gore.
Despite debuting the new-look lineup on a day when Phillies batters struck out a frustrating 19 times, the modified batting order proved to be pretty productive in this one. The top four hitters pacing the rest of the lineup by going 5-for-17, scoring five runs, earning three walks, blasting two home runs and driving in four RBIs. Of the four hitters, only Turner went hitless.
Rob Thomson says Trea Turner will leadoff against lefties and Kyle Schwarber will leadoff against righties and he will see how it goes.
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 27, 2025
Rob says his hitters had better plate discipline this spring training moreso than any other that he has seen. They led the league in walks. pic.twitter.com/mwk5zuODfp
The middle of the order also had a productive day at the plate, with J.T. Realmuto, Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos all notching a hit a piece, with Realmuto knocking in two-runs on an RBI triple, and Kepler contributing on the base paths with two walks and a run scored. Unfortunately, the bottom of the order produced next to nothing against Gore and five Nationals relief pitchers.
Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh went a combined 0-for-8 with six strikeouts out of the eighth and ninth spots in the order. That's notable after the pair of left-handed hitters struggled against southpaws for most of last season, and Thomson giving each a vote of confidence to succeed against them with more at-bats to begin the year.
While many Phillies hitters blamed the late afternoon shadows around home plate as being the cause of the team's 19 strikeout performance, Marsh's four-strikeout day is even more concerning, especially given Thomson's early season plan to start him everyday regardless of who's on the mound — a repeat of his .192 batting average against lefties last season simply can’t happen again in 2025. While it was only the first game of the season, Stott and Marsh's numbers in a Turner-led batting order are something to keep an eye on in the early going.