The pressure is on. After two straight playoff implosions in 2023 and 2024 — following a World Series loss in 2022 — the Phillies are running it back and are hoping to prove that their highly paid and highly talented roster has what it takes to be champions.
Philly will enter 2025 with the fourth-best World Series odds, behind the juggernaut Dodgers, Yankees and division rival Braves. They are tied with another rival in the Mets (at +1100 via FanDuel).
The NL East will be the division of death this summer, but the Phillies believe they have what it takes to defend that title.
As we do every season, as players work out and play exhibition games in Clearwater, we'll check in and tell you the prognosis and expectations for every player we expect to make the roster.
We'll continue today with shortstop, where Trea Turner could be a sleeping giant this season…
Scouting report
Trea Turner was an All-Star last season, slashed .295/.338/.469, hit 21 homers and stole 19 bases. For most baseball players on this planet, that's a career year. For the Phillies' shortstop, it's a mediocre one.
Entering his 11th season, Turner is 31, and has essentially done everything an offensive stud can do in the sport. He's led the majors in batting average (.328 in 2021), he's played in 162 games while leading the majors in at-bats (2018), he's twice led MLB hitters in total hits (2020, 2021), twice led in stolen bases (2018, 2021) and led once in triples (2020). He also has hit 20 homers three times in the last four seasons and reached the 100 RBI milestone in 2022.
Turner can put up MVP-like numbers. His ceiling is as a top 10 player in the game. The hope is he can find his groove and star amid a Phillies roster packed with them.
"Just a similar thing of trying a little too hard," Turner said via NBC Sports Philadelphia, comparing some rough hitting stretches last year to his infamous slump in 2023, "Wanting to do too much at times and then it just kinda snowballs and it's not the good, consistent baseball that I want to play. I've had really good stretches but it's those downtrends that have been really bad. I feel like in the past, that's not the case. Put the ball in play more, take your walks, I know those things, but you're in the box and you've got to do it."
Another hope is that Turner can clean things up on defense. Last season he led all Phillies with 17 errors over 118 games playing shortstop and was tied for the 9th most of them in the majors in 2024.
The best version of Turner helps the Phillies win a championship, and even a lesser version gives them one of the best hitting shortstops in the game.
NL East ranking
The NL East has two thoroughbred shortstops in Turner and 2024 NL MVP runner-up Francisco Lindor. The Mets' infielder, of course, threw a jagged dagger at Phillies fans this October when he hit a grand slam to all but wrap up the Phils' playoff series against New York.
| Team | Shortstop (age) | 2024 stats | 2025 proj | Career WAR |
| Phillies | Trea Turner (31) | .295, 21 HR, 62 RBI | .277, 19 HR, 64 RBI | 36.3 |
| Mets | Francisco Lindor (31) | .273, 33 HR, 91 RBI | .262, 26 HR, 84 RBI | 49.6 |
| Braves | Orlando Arcia (30) | .218, 17 HR, 46 RBI | .238, 17 HR, 56 RBI | 4.9 |
| Marlins | Xavier Edwards (25) | .328, 1 HR, 26 RBI | .297, 5 HR, 33 RBI | 2.1 |
| Nationals | CJ Abrams (24) | .246, 20 HR, 65 RBI | .252, 16 HR, 59 RBI | 6.8 |
Further down the division, the Braves will return veteran and Phillies fan favorite Orlando Arcia, who had a rough 2024. CJ Abrams and Xavier Edwards are two young and talented players with some real upside and each will have the space to play this season with neither the Marlins or the Nationals expected to contend.
Phillies' future
Perhaps making Turner feel a little bit of heat is Phillies prospect Aidan Miller, who is in spring training for the first time right now but is expected to be a year or two away from making it to the majors.
Miller was the Phils' first-round pick two years ago and made short work of Single-A as a teenager. He was promoted up to Double-A Reading, where he is likely to start his season in 2025. In his minor league career, Miller has slashed .267/.375/.436 with 27 stolen bases, 11 homers and 67 RBI in 122 total games.
With Turner under contract for the next decade, a position change will be necessary — whether it's Miller or Turner moving to third when Alec Bohm's contract is up, or someone moving into the outfield.
In the short term, utilityman Edmundo Sosa will remain Turner's backup at short, and Bryson Stott can slide over from second in a pinch.
Trea 🤝 Aidan pic.twitter.com/t2n1Pd7q1D
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) February 19, 2025
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