The Phillies came into the 2025 season with no major upgrades to the core at the center of their playoff teams from 2022-2024, hoping moves around the margins and prospects in the wings would eventually be enough to put the team over the hump. After 28 games, it appears Phillies’ general manager Dave Dombrowski and Co. may have been slightly too optimistic.
Sitting at 15-13 and second place in the NL East, it has not been the opening to the season many would have hoped for. The team has been a notorious slow starter, yes, but that does not mean Philadelphia wants to be handing away winnable games early in the season.
On that note, the Phillies are currently 2nd in MLB in save opportunities, similarly they lead the league with seven blown saves. This is both good and bad news. On a good note, it means the team is in position to win games. However, the bad news is the bullpen has been significantly worse than last season. Free agent acquisition, Jordan Romano, has been far from the quality of player Jeff Hoffman, who signed with Toronto this offseason and it has cost the team multiple games. In a division as competitive as the NL East, every game – even this early – matters. Therefore, this is something that will have to be addressed.
The starting pitching has been mostly solid – with the exception of a poor start from Aaron Nola – but it will have to be better if it wants to earn the title of “best rotation in baseball” as many crowned them this offseason. Zack Wheeler and Christopher Sanchez have also slightly underperformed expectations, both with earned run average in the mid-threes. Reinforcements should be coming soon, with Ranger Suarez almost set to return from injury,and top prospect Andrew Painter looking at a “July-ish” (Dombrowski’s words) call-up.
The offense has been league average (sensing a theme?) so far at 14th in MLB with 4.43 runs per game. With a payroll in the top three of the league, this is unacceptable, especially when the stars of the team are paid to score runs. That will have to improve, along with Bryce Harper’s overall numbers. At a .231 average with five home runs and 16 runs batted in, Harper has struggled to open his 2025 campaign. He is known to get scorching hot at any moment, though, so those numbers could look totally different in a matter of weeks.
Overall, things are not terrible for Philadelphia, but they certainly are not great. The Phillies seem to be relying on their starting pitching and hitting to return to normal (as in 2024 regular season level), and maybe look to add a bullpen upgrade at the deadline with the prospect capital they have. They can not just expect a slow start to be fixed every season, though, so things need to get going, and fast, if the team wants to compete this year.