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Philadelphia Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) celebrates with shortstop Trea Turner (right) and first baseman Bryce Harper (left) after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks in game four of the NLCS of the 2023 MLB playoffs at Chase Field in Phoenix on Oct. 20, 2023. Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Phillies big three needs to get going as soon as possible

Originally posted on Philadelphia Phillies on SI
By Andrew Cote | Last updated Oct 5, 2025 8:00 PM ET

Bears enter hibernation around mid-November. Squirrels start storing their nuts in the later weeks of October. Then there’s the Philadelphia Phillies’ offense who apparently begin their preparations for the winter season in the early days of October.

After a silent 2024 National League Division Series against the New York Mets, the Phillies’ bats were just as quiet to open the 2025 NLDS.

Going up 3-0 in Game 1 over the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia’s offense couldn’t bury their opponent and came to a halting stop. The Phillies went 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts off Dodgers starter Shohei Ohtani following J.T. Realmuto’s two-run triple. Tyler Glasnow, Alex Vesia, and Roki Sasaki kept the Phillies off the board in relief for Ohtani.

Los Angeles scored five unanswered runs and stole Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park to win 5-3 Saturday night.

Fingers are being pointed at David Robertson for his seventh inning struggles, Rob Thomson for allowing Robertson to go back out for the seventh, and Matt Strahm who was responsible for giving up the game-winning three-run homer to Teoscar Hernández. However, people are overlooking a major concern for the Phillies, and it’s been going on since the 2023 postseason. Hiding in the shadows lays a trio of players who can’t jumpstart the team and need to be held accountable for their at-bats in the box.

Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper’s playoff performances have been underwhelming. The Phillies top of the order went 1-for-11 with six strikeouts in Game 1. Turner and Schwarber had an opportunity to get another run on the board with Harrison Bader and Bryson Stott on base, but instead they stranded the runners.

Both Schwarber and Harper were out powered by Ohtani's center cut 100mph fastball on multiple occasions. Even worse, both lefties went fishing on the off-speed pitches out of the zone resulting in them heading back towards the dugout.

Shohei Ohtani, 81mph Hammer.

8th K pic.twitter.com/UTxOaggDOC
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) October 5, 2025

“I thought we missed some pitches over the plate and chased a little bit," Harper said. "We just didn't get it done. We just got to turn the page and get ready for Monday."

Schwarber’s been the biggest issue. His last hit in the playoffs was a single in Game 1 of the 2024 NLDS off David Peterson. That’s a 0-for-18 postseason skid from someone coming off a historic 56 home run and 132 RBIs regular season.

It’s not like it’s just one game for the group of guys worth over $700 million; this is a reoccurring problem.

Going back to Game 6 of the 2023 National League Championship Series, the threesome is batting .149 with 29 strikeouts. In the last seven postseason contests, the Phillies are 1-6 which isn't a shock knowing Harper has driven home three runners and Schwarber's homer off Kodai Senga is his only RBI in that stretch of games. Turner is still looking for his first RBI. All this explains why Philadelphia is averaging 2.6 runs per postseason game.

Teams are going against the best of the best with their aces on the mound, right? Not in the case of the Phillies. Philadelphia has seen arms like Brandon Pfaadt, Sean Manaea, and Jose Quintana in October where they looked like a deer in headlights against them trying to guess at what pitch is coming their way.

The odds aren’t in Schwarber, Turner, and Harper’s favor as legitimate starter and two-time Cy Young winner in Blake Snell takes the mound for the Dodgers in Game 2. The trio are 8-for-47 (.170 AVG) with 20 punch outs lifetime against Snell.

Phillies fans deserve more from a trio with two World Series titles, six Silver Slugger awards, 14 All-Star appearances, and two MVP honors.

If the Phillies have any shot at coming back and defeating the Dodgers, it starts with Schwarber, Turner, and Harper figuring it out and taking control of the offense. Game 2 is Monday night at 6:08 p.m.