Feb 20, 2025; Clearwater, FL, USA; Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) participates in media day at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Nathan Ray Seebeck
As Opening Day nears, it appears that the Phillies may not shake things up at the top spot in the lineup after all.
Kyle Schwarber is leading off in the penultimate game of Grapefruit League play Sunday against the Detroit Tigers:
Gettin' down to it now pic.twitter.com/Dw65IXUNds
Perhaps Rob Thomson is trolling us, but this is the fifth consecutive game that Schwarber and Trea Turner have been in the lineup together and hit first and second, respectively.
In his year-end press conference last October, Thomson cracked the door open to having someone other than Schwarber leading off.
"Well, the lineup construction, we're gonna go through that and try and figure out a better way to score runs on a consistent basis a little bit more," Thomson said.
"Is there a different way? Is it best to have Kyle in the leadoff spot? Don't know," Thomson added. "We've won a lot of games with him in the leadoff spot. So we gotta really think about this."
Schwarber has led off for the majority of his first three seasons with the Phillies, and even set a new MLB record last regular season with 15 leadoff home runs. But a segment of the fanbase has been very vocal about their desires to see Schwarber come up more consistently with runners on base, and it appeared after last year's disappointing postseason exit, the Phillies may throw that group a bone.
While there was some speculation that Bryson Stott could be a candidate to lead off to open 2025 as the Phillies tried to will him into a bounce-back season, Thomson said during a January appearance on "The Phillies Show" that with such a left-handed lineup, Turner was the real candidate to potentially unseat Schwarber at leadoff.
"Well the thing is that we're so left-handed," Thomson said. "And you want Harper and you want Schwarber getting as many at-bats as you can. And now 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 ... you know, everybody's got three lefties in the 'pen it seems anymore. And they'll just start matching up on you."
For much of the spring, the Phillies have alternated between Turner and Schwarber leading off, with the former saying when he arrived at camp that he would enjoy potentially leading off again.
"Yeah, I would like it," Turner said to the assembled media in Clearwater, including Devan Kaney of SportsRadio 94 WIP. "I've always hit one or two for the most part in my career ... hit a little three, but one or two early on. I think it would be fun, be a little different. I've been in that two-hole for a few years now ... [to] kind of get back to a little bit more speed and have that aspect would be fun."
Trea Turner on the possibility of leading off this season: pic.twitter.com/rovBY1KEGF
Schwarber has a comfort level leading off, but has expressed a willingness ahead of his contract year to hit wherever is best for the team.
Interestingly, if Schwarber were to slide to cleanup, that would likely mean Bryce Harper moves up a spot to No. 2 in the lineup behind Turner. Upon his arrival at Clearwater last month, Harper got asked about potentially sliding up to the two-hole.
"I mean, I haven't been talked to yet," Harper said. "Obviously, I'm a three-hole hitter and I have been. But whenever they tell me to hit two or four, I've done that in the past as you guys know. I wanna win, so I don't care what that takes."
Still, Harper is probably the most powerful person in the Phillies organization outside of managing partner John Middleton. If his preference is to hit third, that likely carries a lot of weight. And a lineup where neither Harper and Schwarber is one of the first two batters in the lineup doesn't seem to make a ton of sense.
For what it's worth, while Thomson did flirt with the possibility of alternating leadoff hitters depending on the opposing starting pitcher in the aforementioned interview on "The Phillies Show," he seemed to squash that idea in his meeting with the media to open camp.
"I think the back end of the lineup, sure," Thomson said of adjusting the lineup based on who the Phillies are facing. "But with Harper's ability to hit left-handed pitching and Schwarber's ability to hit left-handed pitching, I want those guys getting as many at-bats as we can. So I don't think I'm gonna mess with the front — whatever the front is ... I don't know that, we're gonna play around with some things in Spring Training. But yeah, I think the top four or five guys are gonna be pretty consistent."
At that time, it seemed like the top four guys might look something like this:
1. Trea Turner, SS
2. Bryce Harper, 1B
3. Alec Bohm, 3B
4. Kyle Schwarber, DH
But with how Thomson has structured the lineup late in Spring Training, a familiar look like this seems as though it may be more likely:
1. Kyle Schwarber, DH
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Bryce Harper, 1B
4. Alec Bohm, 3B
That may very well be the best opening quartet for the Phillies. As unconventional as Schwarber leading off may seem to the baseball traditionalist, the Phillies have made the playoffs three straight years with him in the top spot. How bad can it really be?
At the same time, there's an optics angle of this. The reason so much ink was dedicated to the possibility of someone other than Schwarber leading off to begin the 2025 season was because Thomson and the Phillies cracked the door open to that last October and have continued to consider it this spring. If they ultimately decide not to even begin the season with a different look at the top of their order, you're left to wonder why they didn't just leave the door shut and stick to their guns on Schwarber being the best option to hit first in the lineup.
