Most MLB teams, including the Philadelphia Phillies, begin their respective seasons on Thursday. It's a further sign that spring has arrived. Philadelphia has been in the conversation to be a championship contender after making the 2022 World Series. They've come up short in returning to the Fall Classic since.
What storylines will be significant to the team's success in 2025?
What does a successful 2025 season look like for the Phillies?
The Phillies need better offensive production from the outfield
Philadelphia suffered a lack of consistency on offense from the outfielders last year. Free agent addition Max Kepler is tasked with being the starting left fielder. He led all Phillies positional starters with a 1.175 OPS in 17 games during spring training and feels comfortable with his new team (subscription required), per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The former Minnesota Twin needs to be durable and consistent as a batter for a club that enters the year with thin outfield depth.
According to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki, Brandon Marsh will be the Phillies' everyday center fielder to start the regular season. He worked with hitting coach Kevin Long during the offseason to improve hitting versus left-handed pitching.
"We did a lot more [pitching] machine work because of breaking balls,” Long said, per Zolecki. “I wanted him to get really comfortable with the spin. I wasn’t worried about the fastball, although we also did a lot of high fastball stuff because that was a hole [in his game]. But I was worried about the spin -- curveballs, sliders.”
Nick Castellanos will be the team's right fielder for a fourth consecutive season. He struggled offensively during spring training, hitting .150/.227/.300 with a .527 OPS. The 33-year-old also had 14 strikeouts in 15 games.
Johan Rojas will enter the regular season as the reserve center fielder. He's entering 2025 with momentum following a solid spring training. The 24-year-old already possesses excellent defensive skills. If he improves offensively, that will be good for the positional depth, especially if there is an injury to one of Kepler, Marsh or Castellanos.
The Phillies need dependability from the backend of the starting rotation
The Phillies have more depth in their starting rotation following the offseason trade for Jesús Luzardo. No .1 prospect Andrew Painter is expected to join the team by the second half of the year in July. The health of the pitchers is already being tested as Ranger Suárez will begin the regular season on the IL. The left-hander injured his back during his last spring training appearance.
Taijuan Walker will begin the year as Philadelphia's fifth starter. He showed improvement this spring but ended with a couple of disappointing performances. The right-hander needs to turn the page to the regular season and forget about the spring. He, Suárez and Luzardo can all make the starting pitching better with solid performances throughout the six-month regular season.
The Phillies need to have a successful trade deadline
At last year's trade deadline, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski sought to improve the outfield and bullpen. He traded for closer Carlos Estévez and left fielder Austin Hays. Reliever Tanner Banks and prospect pitchers Seth Johnson and Moisés Chace also became members of the organization.
Hays did not have a good tenure with the Phillies. Neither he nor Estévez are no longer with the team. If the Phillies are attempting to acquire more players at the trade deadline, Dombrowski's moves need to have a better payoff than last season.
The Phillies need to play better in the second half
Philadelphia wanted to get off to a good start during the regular season in 2024. They did that with a 56-29 record entering July 1. However, the second half was a different story. Despite winning the NL East for the first time since 2011, they didn't do as well, finishing 41-38 the rest of the season.
The Phillies' inconsistency from July through to the beginning of October culminated in an underwhelming postseason series loss in the NLDS to the New York Mets. If the Phillies play with more momentum in the second half and qualify for the playoffs, they could do better in the fall.
By comparison, in 2022, the Phillies were 40-37 at the beginning of July. They went 47-38 during the remainder of the season. The team managed to make the postseason as the sixth seed in the first year of the playoff expansion and played well at the right time.
Since MLB's playoff expansion began three years ago, the National League's sixth-seeded club has made the NLCS each season. After the Phillies in 2022, the Arizona Diamondbacks made the World Series in 2023. The No. 6 seed Mets lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS last fall.
The Phillies need to win the World Series
Three players are entering their final seasons under contract with the organization. This may be the last season J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber or Ranger Suárez are in a Phillies uniform. The team must win a World Series in 2025 before too many more players become free agents.
After failing to return to the World Series the last two years, how many more chances will this roster get to win a championship? The argument can be made they may have missed their chance to win in 2022. Since their loss in the Fall Classic, they have regressed, losing in the 2023 NLCS, followed by last year's defeat in the NLDS.
The timing of the organization winning a World Series for the city would succeed the Philadelphia Eagles' dominant display in 2024, which ended with a Super Bowl victory. The Phillies would love to follow suit and need to do so before the championship window closes.
More Phillies news from That Ball's Outta Here
manual