The Phillies just won their home opener, they're 3-1 and the team is packed with fun stars. It's a good time to be a Phils fan. While not all of these will be positive, here are a handful of thoughts I have about the Fightins on their off day…
Kyle Schwarber is rocking to start the year
Everyone knows about Kyle Schwarber's prolific Junes. "The Junebarian" heats up as summer rolls around for SchwarberFest. Schwarber has posted a career .934 OPS in the month of June, per baseball-reference. His early season numbers, by comparison, are more tepid.
For March and April games, Schwarber has a career .755 OPS.
After four March games this season, however, Schwarber is resembling his peak summer form. Schwarber has already clobbered three home runs in 2025, each one more thrilling than the last.
This dead center shot during Monday's home opener to pad the Fightins' lead was a textbook Schwarbomb:
KYLE SCHWARBER
DEAD CENTER#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/9IWl3j5DBN— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 31, 2025
There is major competition in the National League, but Schwarber could be on a path once more to lead the NL in dingers.
Aaron Nola had a brutal fourth inning
Aaron Nola melting down in the "Toyota Rav 4th inning" is a running joke among Phillies fans. It stayed true following Nola's first start of the 2025 season, too.
Nola was dealing early Sunday in Washington. Through three innings, he pitched one-hit, no-run ball. Perpetual Phillies killer Josh Bell took him yard for a three-run shot in the fourth though. Things spiraled from there, as Nola later allowed another homer in the sixth, a two-run bop from Nathaniel Lowe, and got the hook.
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Looking deeper at Nola's career splits, however, he's actually been quite good in the fourth inning in his career, posting a 3.03 ERA across 267 innings, per baseball-reference. That's way better than his third inning ERA of 4.44 and a fifth inning mark of a 4.45 ERA.
I guess Phils fans won't allow concrete statistics to get in the way of a good bit about a supremely talented, if fairly flawed, player…
Alec Bohm remains a frustrating, but skilled player
Alec Bohm has an incredible bat-to-ball tool. Even without being a true power hitter, he can work well in the middle of a lineup and be a big-time RBI guy. He can also be a double play machine. Since the start of the 2023 season, per StatMuse, Bohm has grounded into a double play 42 times, tied for the second most in all of the majors.
He had a costly GIDP in Sunday's loss to Washington in the top of the seventh inning, which has this looming large in my head.
Bohm will be fine this regular season, settling into his .280 batting average range, driving in 95-plus runs in a potent lineup, but there is a bit of stasis to his game and a switch at third base would've been the big swing I would've taken if I was the front office this past offseason. Bohm has a .629 postseason OPS in 132 plate appearances the last three Red Octobers…
Bryce Harper still wants you to know how much he loves Philadelphia
The pandering king himself (meant positively!) Bryce Harper sported some incredible Phanatic-themed cleats on Monday at Citizens Bank Park:
Bryce Harper’s special Phanatic x @UnderArmour cleats for the Phillies home opener 👀
The design incorporates a variety of Philly-themed charms, including Bryce’s number 3, a boxing glove, a UA helmet and some of Harper’s favorite phrases, like “We Don’t Care” and “Jawn.” pic.twitter.com/rH6GKF1A3a— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) March 31, 2025
I love them. The Phanatic is the no-doubt-about-it greatest mascot of all time. His chaotic randomness personifies Philadelphia. I'm glad Harper sees that and leans into it for the fans.
Under Armour has done a lot more for Harper than they ever did for Joel Embiid, right? That was a weird era before Embiid made the jump to Skechers.
Remembering Roy Halladay
With baseball season in full swing, I wanted to read a book about the sport. My reading pace has dropped tremendously this year compared to last, mostly due to my 2024 "Dune" phase, but I wanted to hop back into things. Over the last few days, I've made a nice dent into "Doc" by MLB.com's Todd Zolecki about the late, great Roy Halladay.
It makes for a brisk read and provides tremendous insight into the Hall of Famer's life, career and untimely passing.
Halladay's legendary playoff no-hitter makes up a good early part of the book. I was at Citizens Bank Park that day. I was in high school at the time and knew I was witnessing something special with my own two eyes, but it's strange that it's now been 15 years and I'm reading a historic account of it. Time is weird like that. It's even sadder now that Halladay is no longer with us.
That guy was incredible.
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