The Philadelphia Phillies could look to their best player to lead off their batting order next season.
Phillies considering Bryce Harper for leadoff role in 2025
Brad Wakai of Philadelphia Phillies on SI detailed in a recent article how current Phillies leadoff hitter Kyle Schwarber’s underwhelming productivity out of that designation may call for a change in 2025:
“Schwarber still strikes out a lot, but he led the National League in walks which was always one of the arguments for having him be the leadoff man in the first place,” Wakai wrote. “But, Thomson is open to a new approach, perhaps putting a more traditional hitter into that spot and moving Schwarber down the lineup to create more of an opportunity for runs being scored with the longball instead of it being a solo shot.”
Wakai then shared a report from Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, which revealed that Phillies manager Rob Thomson is considering replacing Schwarber with Bryce Harper:
“Harper? He has led off before, including eight games for Gabe Kapler in 2019, but feels most comfortable in the No. 3 spot. Thomson said it would be a ‘long conversation,’ although he sounded prepared to have it,” Lauber said.
Phillies: Harper has been a solid leadoff hitter in career
Harper has notched 144 at-bats in the leadoff slot for his career. He owns a .271 batting average, a strong .563 slugging percentage, and a .932 OPS in that position. That OPS is his third-highest out of all nine slots that he’s seen time at throughout his 12-year big league tenure. However, he’s been more effective batting second through cleanup.
Nevertheless, Philadelphia’s coaches may see it more advantageous to have the two-time National League MVP get on base earlier in the order to have some of their other potent sluggers move more base-runners along the bags.
Phillies could be even better with Harper batting 1st
The Phillies scored the fifth-most runs (784) among all teams last season, and were most productive at bringing base-runners to home plate in the first, fourth, and sixth innings — the only three innings where they scored 100 or more total runs in the previous campaign. Harper saw his most at-bats in the first, third, and sixth innings, which largely coincides with the Phillies’ success. However, with a bump up in the order, he could see more time in other innings that he did not step up to the plate in with as much frequency last time out.
Ultimately, the Phillies are looking to put their 2024 playoff loss to the New York Mets in the National League Division Series behind them and make a stronger World Series push next time out. They will likely try many things with their uber-talented roster to make that happen, and shifting Harper in the order looks like it may be one of them.
