Make Or Break Weekend? — Series Preview: Phillies at Cubs, April 25-27
New York Mets catcher Hayden Senger, right, tags out Philadelphia Phillies' Nick Castellanos as he tries to score during the eighth inning of a baseball game; Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
It may be April, but it feels like the Philadelphia Phillies’ season could be over before it ever gets started.
The team is coming off getting swept by their biggest rival, the New York Mets, in embarrassing fashion, I might add. The offense is struggling to find any consistency in their at-bats, especially the “star” players near the top of the order. The four highest-paid offensive players combined for just five hits in this past series against New York.
On top of that, the bullpen continues to disappoint game after game, and the starting pitching has been good, not great, through 25 games. The team is getting to the point where, while it’s early, they may need a major shake-up if they have any chance of salvaging this season.
So, coming off 16 straight days of games and an absolute beating from your biggest rivals, what do the Phillies get? A three-game series against one of the best offenses in baseball, the Chicago Cubs.
The Cubs are off to a very successful start to their 2025 campaign. They’re 16-10 to start the year and leading all of baseball in the majority of its offensive categories, including Average, RBIs, Runs scored, On-Base Percentage, Slugging, OPS, and Hits. While they have one extra game played thanks to playing in Japan to start the season, they are still leading all of these categories, and also are near the top in the majority of other stats.
This is a huge series on the road for the Phillies, one that could be a turning point for the struggling ballclub. A couple of wins and the team could start feeling better about themselves. However, another sweep, this team could continue to spiral out, and the panic of this team could increase.
Getting After Their Pitching Staff
If there’s one thing that the Cubs haven’t been dominant at, it’s their pitching. Cubs pitchers have a combined 4.17 ERA, which is 18th in the league, and have allowed 226 hits this year, which is fourth worst in baseball.
The Phillies will fortunately not have to go up against Cubs’ ace Shota Imanaga and solid starter Matthew Boyd. Colin Rea has looked decent through his first two starts of the season, but former Phillies prospect Ben Brown and Jameson Taillon have struggled to open 2025. The Phillies will see them on Saturday and Sunday, but have to set the tone Friday afternoon against Rea if they want and chance at winning this series.
Bullpen Regaining Confidence
This bullpen is god awful, quite possibly the worst in baseball. They lead the league in blown saves with seven, rank in the top 10 in runs and hits allowed, and in the bottom 10 in team ERA. They have flat-out been the biggest problem for the team this season.
Outside of Jose Alvarado and Matt Strahm, this bullpen has been awful. Orion Kerkering and Jose Ruiz were asked to fill big holes, and both have been bad. Jordan Romano has blown multiple leads and continues to look like his old self as he struggles to throw good pitches. Meanwhile, Tanner Banks, Joe Ross, and Carlos Hernandez are all irrelevant and will all likely be gone at some point this season.
So now, as you sit a month into the season, how do you fix this problem? Manager Rob Thomson wasn’t given much to work with, but Caleb Cotham needs to step up and get his pitchers in line if the Phillies want to get this season back on track. If they can somehow have a successful weekend against a fantastic Cubs offense, then it might just be enough for them to start playing better.
Game Times and Broadcasts
Friday, April 25, 2:20 p.m. ET, NBC Sports Philadelphia, MLB Network, 94.1 WIP, WTTM 1680
Saturday, April 26, 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX, 94.1 WIP, WTTM 1680
Wednesday, April 23, 7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN, 94.1 WIP, WTTM 1680
Probable Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Taijuan Walker (RHP, 1-1, 2.29 ERA) vs. Colin Rea (RHP, 0-0, 1.32 ERA)
Game 2: Jesus Luzardo (LHP, 2-0, 2.08 ERA) vs. Ben Brown (RHP, 2-1, 4.57 ERA)
Game 3: Aaron Nola (RHP, 0-5, 6.43 ERA) vs. Jameson Taillon (RHP, 1-1, 4.73 ERA)
By the Numbers
- Records
- Phillies: 13-12
- Cubs: 16-10
- Run Differential
- Phillies: -4
- Cubs: 43
- Runs Scored Per Game
- Phillies: 4.7
- Cubs: 6.27
- Runs Allowed Per Game
- Phillies: 4.44
- Cubs 4.62
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
