A new leadoff hitter in 2025? — Ideal Phillies Opening Day lineup

We are less than one month away from the first game of the MLB season between the Cubs and Dodgers in Japan.

For the Phillies however, we are 36 days away from the beginning of their 2025 campaign in our nation’s capital against the Nationals.

Since Spring Training began about a week ago, there have been lots of discussions about what the starting nine will look like on Opening Day. Could there be a change at leadoff? Could Bryce Harper‘s spot be shifted?

Here is my ideal lineup for the Phillies, which I highly doubt will ever come to reality:

1. SS Trea Turner (R)

I know the win-to-loss ratio since 2022 with Kyle Schwarber leading off. I know the number Schwarber has put up in that spot. He has 46 career leadoff homers, including 33 since he joined the Phillies in ’22. He broke the record for most leadoff home runs in a single season in 2024 with 15.

However, it is time for a change at leadoff.

Leadoff Schwarbombs are great. But, why not have him crush some homers for more than just one run? When he can have multiple guys in front of him, Schwarber can break some games open early. It is worth a shot.

Rob Thomson has stated multiple times that he is considering a change atop the lineup. If he does, Turner will be the guy.

We all know what Turner can do from any spot in the lineup. He posted a .328 OBP and a .807 OPS in 2024, primarily spending time hitting second, and we all know what he is truly capable of doing. But with his contact, base-running abilities, and 29.6 sprint speed, he is the perfect guy to lead off this Phillies team.

The other two candidates to lead off, to me, are Harper and Bryson Stott.

A common trend in the MLB over the past few years has been having your best hitter lead off. The Braves do it with Ronald Acuna Jr., the Mets do it with Francisco Lindor, the Dodgers do it with Shohei Ohtani, and the Yankees have done it with Aaron Judge.

Harper, however, said this week he is not interested in becoming the Phillies leadoff hitter. “I’ll take the extra at-bats,” he said, “but I don’t want to hit leadoff.”

“I’ve hit three a lot in my career, I feel comfortable there. I’ve hit two a lot early in my career so I’m comfortable there. And then obviously in the postseason in ’22, I hit four a lot. Like I said, I just want to win.”

For Stott, Thomson had this to say on The Phillies Show:

“The thing is, we’re so left-handed and you want Harper and you want Schwarber getting as many at-bats as you can. If you put Stott in the leadoff spot, now you’re really left-handed at the top. It might create a problem, even if you’re facing a right-hander. Everybody’s got three lefties in the ‘pen, it seems. They’ll just start matching up on you.”

Thomson said on the pod that if any change at leadoff is occurring, it will be Turner. That is the change I am hoping to see.

2. 1B Bryce Harper (L)

I love Harper at two, and specifically behind Turner.

Since Turner came to Philadelphia in 2023, Harper has hit right behind him at three. With bumping Turner to lead off, Harper joins the train, going from three to two.

Now Harper has made it very clear this spring that he feels most comfortable hitting third, which is what he has primarily done since coming to the Phillies on his at the time record-breaking 13-year, $330 million deal. But, his best years in Washington were spent hitting second.

Harper hit .285 in 2024, posting a .898 OPS. He is somehow entering the seventh year of his contract. Crazy.

3. 3B Alec Bohm (R)

For those of you who listen to our Bell Ringers podcast and have kept up with my writing this offseason, you may be surprised to see me have Bohm batting third. After his disappointing final two months of the season, his 1-for-13 NLDS against the Mets, and all the trade rumors this offseason, I have a feeling Bohm could turn things around in 2025.

Thomson said this week that Phillies coaches have reported that Bohm “seems like a different guy” this spring and that he is so positive.

“He’s grown up so much since we first brought him to the big leagues,” Thomson said. “Now, it looks like he’s taken another step. So I’m really excited to see what he can do.”

Bohm is coming off the best season of his career, where he slashed .280/.332/.448. His decrease really began when he injured his wrist in September, which affected his swing mightily. If Bohm can return to how he was hitting early in 2024 while protecting Turner and Harper, he could be the Phillies’ x-factor in 2025.

4. DH Kyle Schwarber (L)

I think moving Schwarber to cleanup is beneficial to the whole lineup.

Of his 143 home runs with the Phillies, 97 of them have been solo shots. Imagine all of those homers with guys like Turner, Harper, and Bohm in front of him, who each own high on-base percentages.

“Wherever my name gets written, that’s where I’m going to hit,” Schwarber said this week. “I get paid to play baseball for these guys so wherever my name gets written, I’ll play. I just want to win the World Series and wherever we think our best lineup needs to go to continually win baseball games, that’s what I’ll do. I really don’t have a personal attachment to where I hit. I just want to go out there any try to win baseball games.”

You will also be seeing Schwarber out in left field a little more this season as the Phils look to get Harper and J.T. Realmuto off their feet. There are also some rumblings that Schwarber could get some time at first base in 2025. Could make for some fun moments.

Schwarber is also in the final year of the four-year contract he signed with the Phillies in 2022. However, they could agree on an extension prior to Opening Day.

5. RF Nick Castellanos (R)

Castellanos is coming off a season in which he played all 162 games, and was probably the team’s best hitter in the NLDS where he went 7-for-17 with a double, home run, three RBIs, and a walk-off hit in Game 2.

Castellanos also experienced some trade talk this offseason, but similarly to Bohm, nothing came of it.

Something interesting involving Castellanos this offseason is that he chose to move on from Scott Boras and represent himself. Here is his explanation:

Nick Castellanos explains why he chose to represent himself.

(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/Mo6dbQisqI

— On Pattison (@OnPattison) February 16, 2025

6. 2B Bryson Stott (L)

As we enter the bottom of the Phillies’ order, a lot of left-handed hitters start to get bottled up here.

In his third big league season, many expected Stott to break out in 2024. However, he hit just .245, a 35-point decrease in his batting average from 2023. He continued to play stellar defense, but his bat never kept up.

However, he did speak on an elbow injury that started back in May that could have affected his swing.

“I messed up this nerve, some long word for a nerve in there,” Stott said on Monday. “I did it in the end of May in Miami. I was hitting really well, I was like ‘Alright, I’m feeling back to normal after the rough first month.’ Kind of got it going and took a weird swing and it kind of made my pinky go numb. And I was like ‘It’s whatever.’ And then I took another one a week or so later and it just kind of lingered the whole time.” 

Stott, who proclaimed he does not want to make excuses for his down year, says the injury did not disturb him when he made contact, but rather when he would swing and miss, and it worsened as the season went along. 

I watched every Bryson Stott at-bat from that Marlins series and I believe I found the moment that he injured the nerve in his right elbow. The 9th inning on May 11.

As @mhc_76 pointed out:

Stott through May 11: .270/.370/.426
Stott post May 11: .238/.298/.335 https://t.co/t8pCXNpQKq pic.twitter.com/9ke61pldAw

— Phillies Tailgate (@PhilsTailgate) February 18, 2025

So, this season, barring any injuries, needs to be the break-out year for Stott. He is healthy, 27 years old, and entering his fourth MLB season with a lot to prove.

With Aidan Miller waiting in the wings and an aging Turner at shortstop, this could be a proving year for Stott. If he underperforms again, could we see a move that potentially moves Turner to second base in place of Stott, clearing shortstop for Miller? It is possible.

7. C J.T. Realmuto (R)

Realmuto had an up-and-down 2024 season, which was dented with some injuries, particularly his meniscus which had him out for a while in June. He batted .266 with a .751 OPS in 2024, which was his lowest OPS since his rookie season with the Marlins. He even went 0-for-11 in the NLDS.

These are the things that happen to an aging catcher like Realmuto, who is entering the final year of his five-year deal he signed with the Phils in 2021.

So, Thomson and Realmuto have talked about innovative ways to manipulate Realmuto’s workload to keep him healthy this season. An idea they come up with, how about some left field for the 33-year-old?

“I’m sure I’ll shag some balls at some point,” Realmuto said. “Like [Thomson] said, it was just an idea. But at the end of the day… whatever gives us the best chance to win, I’ll give it a shot.”

8. CF Brandon Marsh (L)

The Phillies will be running a platoon center field in 2025 with Marsh and Johan Rojas. Marsh will go against righties, Rojas against lefties. It is also safe to assume that Rojas will be the first guy off the bench for a late-game defensive substitution. The Phils also plan to test out Edmundo Sosa in center this spring once again.

But for Marsh, the bearded man got off to a very hot start in 2024 but faded out as the weather got warmer. The 27-year-old finished slashing .249/.328/.419.

However, Marsh surprisingly was ranked as a five-tool player last season, with Julio Rodriguez, Elly De La Cruz, Bobby Witt Jr., and others.  

To statistically qualify as a five-tool player, the player has to be above average in batting average, average exit velocity, sprint speed, fielding value, and arm strength.

5-tool players last season pic.twitter.com/SSzC8hCdpG

— BrooksGate (@Brooks_Gate) February 3, 2025

Now, Marsh is nowhere close to the next Micky Mantle or anything, but if he can continue to be above average in just about everything, I will gladly have a guy like that hit eighth in my lineup.

9. LF Max Kepler (L)

Rounding out the lineup is the newcomer. The Phillies signed Kepler to a one-year, $10 million deal in December, it ended up being their biggest signing of the offseason.

Kepler looked like a rising star in his rookie season in 2019, where he hit 36 home runs, 90 RBIs, and had a .855 OPS. However, he has yet to reach a peak like that in his mixed-bag career since.

A right knee contusion and left patellar tendinitis turned into left hip discomfort, held Kepler to just 105 games for the Twins this past season, where he posted a .682 OPS. 

I could see Kepler rising in this lineup as the season goes on, but on March 27, I would prefer to see Kepler rounding out the lineup.

Another selling point to leading off Turner, the Phils would be batting three straight lefties in their 8-9-1 spots. Turner, being a righty, splits up the left-handed hitters when the lineup turns over.

---

Use code PHILLYSPORTSREPORT for $20 off your first SeatGeek order

Click here to save 10% on any order at FOCO