2025 MLB First-Half Recap: Philadelphia Phillies

The Pitching

The Good

Take a good look at those pitching numbers.

The Phillies’ rotation has been sublime this season, despite not having Aaron Nola thanks to numerous injuries. Four of the Phillies’ five regular starters this season — Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesus Luzardo — have ERA+ figures above the league average this season.

Luzado, acquired in the winter, has been a fairly good addition despite uneven results over the last few weeks — which, realistically, have been somewhat of a product of bad luck with batted balls (his 2.68 FIP tells a slightly different story).

Suarez (200 ERA+) posted yet another strong first half. And as for Sanchez and Wheeler, both pitchers have been strikeout spikes in 2025. As a matter of fact, Sanchez, with 122 strikeouts over 115 innings, had the third-largest K/9 (+2.1) increase between 2024 and 2025 (as of first half).

Wheeler, at +1.4, is seventh. It’s incredible to see Wheeler improve year after year.

As for the offense, the numbers have been mixed. However, the Phillies have received enough contributions to rank in the top half of the league in several categories.

That’s thanks to Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner, two individuals who’ve paced the Phillies’ offense. Turner leads the National League in total hits (113), while Schwarber entered the break as one of five players with 30+ home runs.

The Bad

After losing Carlos Estevez and Jeff Hoffman in free agency, the Phillies re-modeled their bullpen by adding ex-Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano on a one-year deal. Romano, who boasted a strong fastball/slider combo for years with Toronto, came off an injury-riddled 2024 season.

Things haven’t gone great for Romano. He struggled out of the gate and fell behind the depth chart in the bullpen to Jose Alvarado. Unfortunately for the Phillies, Alvarado received an 80-game suspension for PEDs, which will make him ineligible for the 2025 postseason.

Philadelphia’s pieced things together late in games with a combination of Romano, Matt Strahm, and Orion Kerkering over the last two months.

Moving to the offense, the Phillies finished top ten in both runs scored in OPS over the last two full seasons. However, you’ll see that, if the season ended today, the Phillies would finish outside the top third of MLB in both categories.

The Phillies missed Bryce Harper with recurring wrist trouble for weeks early in the season. That didn’t help, especially when taking into account several of their support pieces haven’t been as productive as hoped.

Bryson Stott finished April with an .810 OPS. But since the start of May, Stott slashed .204/.268/.284 (.553 OPS). Brandon Marsh & Johan Rojas have sub-.600 OPS figures, while Max Kepler, signed in free agency last winter, fell into a platoon role in late June.

What to Expect in the Second Half

Sitting in first place heading into the unofficial second half, the goal is to stay there and to be in a good position for October. However, there are questions to address.

Namely, can this team stay healthy, and whether the organization go big come the trade deadline?

The Phillies have been linked to several players, including Twins relievers Jhoan Duran & Griffin Jax. Either would make sense, as both Duran and Jax are excellent relievers who are capable of handling the stress of the ninth inning. And with no set man to hold the closer’s spot heading into October, adding a high-end reliever would make sense here.

After all, with J.T. Realmuto, Ranger Suarez, and Kyle Schwarber free agents after 2025, the clock is ticking for this core.