Taijuan Walker resurgence, Kyle Schwarber hot-streak, and more thoughts from trip to Atlanta

The Phillies wrapped up their series in Atlanta with another devastating loss. This time, giving up a walk-off home run in the 11th inning to Marcell Ozuna, which secured the series loss at roughly one in the morning. The first loss came from a blunder in the outfield and a lack of bullpen success in the series opener. However, a team effort — led by Bryce Harper and Trea Turner — earned them a second game win in a bullpen-heavy matchup. In the rubber match, Jesús Luzardo tossed a solid six innings, giving up only one run with six punch-outs, matching Spencer Schwellenbach‘s six innings, one run performance. The game was delayed for two hours after the starters exited, and it ran into extra innings. Johan Rojas came to the plate and worked a walk to take a 2-1 lead in the top of the eleventh. Nonetheless, an Austin Riley double in the next half-inning evened it up, and Ozuna’s home run won it, bringing the Braves their first series win.

Although a tough loss against division rivals, the Phillies retain a 3-1 series record with one of their series wins against the “World Series favorites”, the Los Angeles Dodgers. A few standout offensive performances — delivered by Kyle Schwarber, Harper, and Turner — proved useful in the recent series. Don’t overreact just yet — they are a flawed team, but the Phillies are still 8-4 on the year.

With the team heading into their fifth series, it’s an appropriate time to evaluate some recently apparent struggles and successes.

Rise of the Tai-Walker

An abnormally beautiful day brought 45,000 Phillies fans to their feet as they roared for their favorite players being introduced in the home opener last week against the Rockies. The crowd praised everyone, except Taijuan Walker. The $18 million starter was introduced and jogged up the steps, onto the field to a chorus of “boos”. However, that Philly crowd may change its tune after Walker turned in two exceptional starts against the Rockies and the Braves.

In his first start, Walker scattered three hits over six innings pitched, shutting out the Rockies. It was a shocking outing for many Phillies fans who expected him to get shelled for 4 or more runs, as he did in 2024. In his Braves start, Walker did not allow a run, but his control looked a little shaky. Throwing 56% of pitches for strikes and walking three batters, it was worrisome, but Walker worked himself out of a few jams in his 4.2 innings.

Although a small sample size, let’s compare some of Walker’s pitches this year to last year: (Note: Negative run value is poor, zero is unaffected, Positive is good)

Sinker: 2024: 91.1 MPH; 27.4% Usage; Opponent Batting Average .367; -11 Run Value 2025: 92.6 MPH; 17.9% Usage; Opponent Batting Average .000; 1 Run Value

Splitter: 2024: 86.7 MPH; 22.1% Usage; Opponent Batting Average .380; -16 Run Value 2025: 87.5 MPH; 19.6% Usage; Opponent Batting Average .375; 0 Run Value

Cutter: 2024: 87.4 MPH; 9.3% Usage; Opponent Batting Average .435; -7 Run Value 2025: 87.4 MPH; 23.8% Usage; Opponent Batting Average .125; 1 Run Value

Taijuan Walker has made some amazing adjustments by utilizing his offspeed better. Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham has gotten him to find more usage in his cutter, which has generated a 33.3% Putaway% (the rate of two-strike pitches that result in a strikeout). When Ranger Suarez went to the injured list, Rob Thomson spoke highly of Taijuan Walker and his ability to fill the fifth spot in the rotation. He was met with plenty of backlash, but Walker has proven this right so far.

Walker is lined up to pitch next against the Giants on April 14th.

Roommate Struggles

On Opening Day, Alec Bohm smashed a ball into the left center gap with two outs to give the Phillies a two-run lead in the tenth. The next day, Brandon Marsh launched a three-run shot in the seventh that iced the game and gave the Phillies a series win.

Since the conclusion of the Nationals series, Brandon Marsh is 0-19 with one RBI, plummeting his batting average to .133. Before the season, Thomson announced him to be the everyday centerfielder, a major upgrade from his role as a platoon outfielder used against right-handed pitchers.

It has been a troublesome start to the 2025 season for Marsh, and we’ve already seen Thomson bench Marsh for Johan Rojas against lefties in the Dodgers series. It’s gone far enough that Edmundo Sosa started in the outfield instead of Marsh. When he was acquired in 2022, he was expected to take a jump and solidify himself as the everyday centerfielder. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen that leap, and he’s been a hole in the lineup the last 8 games he’s played. In the Braves series, Marsh killed momentum on numerous occasions with weak contact during late-game rallies. His future is uncertain since he lacks the consistency that the Phillies need from a centerfielder

On the other hand, Marsh’s roommate, Alec Bohm, was benched last year in the NLDS after going 1-13 in the first four games. During the offseason, the Phillies shopped him but ultimately kept him on the team. Positive reports finally surfaced, stating Bohm had made adjustments to his attitude and fans should see fewer helmet spikes and bat slams from the 28-year-old.

However, since that opening series in Washington, the third-baseman has four hits in 35 at-bats, racking up eight strikeouts. Bohm’s role in the lineup is to protect Harper, who hits before him. However, with his struggles, Harper himself has been getting pitched around because opposing pitchers have a better chance against Bohm. Increasingly frustrating amongst fans is his approach at the plate — he swings at 39.1% of first pitches, averaging 3.1 pitches per plate appearance. Bohm’s defense has also been a hole, evident in the Braves series, posting a -1 run value at the hot corner.

Yesterday, Bohm was dropped to the seventh hole, the lowest spot he’s been placed since July of 2023. He still managed to go 0-5 but made some solid contact. If he doesn’t start producing offensively, Edmundo Sosa will get his at-bats and innings at third.

These struggles have been prominent in Bohm’s career, and this may be another slump that ballplayers endure. However, patience from fans and management is already thin for him and his roommate, Marsh. Midseason roster changes for both shouldn’t be ruled out, especially with Justin Crawford‘s stellar performance down in Lehigh Valley and Aidan Miller on the horizon.

Chasing DiMaggio?

Not enough can be said about Kyle Schwarber’s 2025 season so far; he has undoubtedly been the team’s MVP and spark in the lineup. He’s famously known for his astonishing June numbers, but with free agency on the horizon, “June Schwarber” could be a year-round persona.

In 12 games played, Schwarber has reached base safely in all of them. Only 45 games to go to beat Joe DiMaggio‘s record, Kyle! He’s posted a 1.150 OPS during that streak while bouncing between lead-off and clean-up spot. Phillies fans — it should not go unnoticed how carefree Schwarber has been about lineup changes every few days. The approaches are wildly different, and he’s done a phenomenal job in both spots. Kudos to you, Kyle.

Recently, MLB insider Jon Heyman believes a contract extension between the two teams is going to happen. At the pace Schwarber’s on, he is in for a big payday, and we can only hope Dave Dombrowski gives it to him.

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