Stats to know about Phillies hitters entering series vs. Paul Skenes, Pirates

The Phillies' upcoming weekend series against the Pittsburgh Pirates will carry plenty more intrigue than an average three-game set against a team with a 15-29 record.

Looking to rebound after a home series loss to the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies will face a Pittsburgh team that recently fired its manager in the wake of an extremely disappointing start to the season. And while fans coming to Citizens Bank Park on Friday or Saturday evening will appreciate the chance to see Ranger Suárez or Zack Wheeler take the mound, the main event comes in the form of Sunday afternoon's series finale.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson will hand the ball to ascending left-hander Cristopher Sánchez while the Pirates counter with superstar right-hander Paul Skenes, 22, who's already one of the few must-see talents in the majors. Sunday will be the first time the Phillies face him.

Before the series begins, some notes on the Phillies' nine regular hitters:

.628

Bryson Stott's OPS as the Phillies' leadoff hitter (25 games).

Much has been made of the value of Stott's ability to see plenty of pitches since he was moved into the leadoff spot, and Stott is certainly patient. But he is patient to a significant detriment, often defaulting to taking hittable pitches that should draw swings. Stott can work a lengthy at-bat, but if he is not doing damage at the plate it is merely charming and not very valuable.

Above all else, a leadoff hitter must set the table, and Stott's .252/.308/.374 slash line when batting first is not encouraging. It does not appear the current arrangement for Stott – leading off against right-handed pitchers and sitting with lefties on the mound– is going to change in the near future, in part because Kyle Schwarber has been stellar since moving down a few spots to protect Bryce Harper (more on this momentarily).

Stott is an excellent defender at second base, an elite base-runner and works professional at-bats. That is the makeup of a useful player. But his track record at the plate does not warrant consistent starts in the leadoff spot.

.359

Trea Turner's batting average since April 25 (18 games).

Turner still needs to tap into the power that has rounded out his strong offensive portfolio; he only has seven doubles and two home runs in 41 games. The best version of Turner – the one the Phillies believed was worth an 11-year, $300 million investment – does not just hit for average and command attention on the base paths, but also slugs. It was a key factor in his late 2023 surge, his best stretch of baseball since arriving in Philadelphia.

But during Turner's first two seasons with the Phillies, when he was not at his best, it felt like he was automatically resorting to his worst. But now, Turner is getting hits and finding his way on base at an extremely high clip. Thomson said on May 3 that he was imploring Turner to focus more on setting the table for the hitters behind him and less on trying to maximize his power.

"At the start of the season, Trea and I had a talk and I said, 'I don't care about home runs. We've got plenty of guys who can do that. I want you to get on base.'"

Thomson also set out some goals for Turner to achieve by season's end: a .380 on-base percentage, 40 stolen bases and 100 runs scored.

"If he does that, I don't care about anything else," Thomson said.

.754

Bryce Harper's OPS since Kyle Schwarber was moved behind him for protection in the lineup (31 games).

Part of Thomson's calculus in shuffling the lineup around, with Stott moving to the top, was also about having Schwarber hit behind Harper. Harper was not seeing tons of hittable pitches; the thinking was teams had no choice but to give him more appealing offerings if Schwarber was looming in the on-deck circle.

While Schwarber has raked in the clean-up spot, his presence has not exactly unlocked Harper, who is slashing .224/.341/.414 in the month-plus since the change was made. To be clear, Harper is not struggling by the standards of a normal hitter – and he will be just fine – but his offensive production lags far behind what Phillies fans are used to seeing from the two-time National League MVP.

Harper still has a .780 OPS this season, significantly above the current league average. The Phillies can still reach another level or two offensively, and that process likely begins with a hot streak from Harper.

MORE: Aaron Nola's struggles continue

15

Kyle Schwarber's total number of home runs in 2025, tied with Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani for most in the majors.

Not bad company for Schwarber, who is making the absolute most of a contract year with what is shaping up to be the best campaign of his outstanding Phillies tenure. Schwarber enters this series not only tied for the major-league lead in homers with the two best hitters on the planet, but sixth in the majors in OPS and among the major league leaders in walks.

At the plate, so much of this era of Phillies baseball has been boom-bust – one night the offense explodes for 10 runs, the next it fails to get any big hits with runners on base. Through it all, Schwarber has been a steady, calming presence in the lineup. It does not matter where he finds himself in the batting order, he is going to work his walks and also hit the ball over the fence.

Perhaps the best possible example of Schwarber's consistency was his 47-game on-base streak, which began last September and finally ended Wednesday in the first game of the Phillies' double-header. Of course, Schwarber went yard in the second game. Perhaps a new streak has started.

With every swing, Schwarber seems to be raising the price on any potential extension that would prevent the Phillies from having to worry about losing such an important piece in free agency.

.297

The difference between Nick Castellanos' OPS vs. left-handed pitching (.958) and his OPS vs. right-handed pitching (.661).

There are two ways to look at this: Castellanos crushing left-handed pitching at a level he has never before reached with the Phillies is an exciting development, and Castellanos being largely ineffective against right-handed pitching is ominous.

To some degree, both statements are true. In a lineup filled with players who own suspect splits against southpaws, Castellanos' success against them is a godsend. But most pitchers he will see are right-handed, and he will need to make an impact against them.

Overall, Castellanos is slashing a respectable .285/.328/.424 on the season. If Stott eventually moves down in the order, the most logical candidate to move up would be Castellanos.

.227

Max Kepler's batting average vs. right-handed pitching.

On May 3, Kepler's OPS reached .816 – the highest it had been since April 4 – but since then, he is just 3-for-33 with one double in 10 games. This is the case despite the Phillies more or less pulling the plug on using Kepler against left-handed pitching; he is clearly in a platoon with Weston Wilson at this point. Kepler is slashing .207/.226/.379 against lefties this season, so that move is not exactly a surprise.

However, amid this recent slump Kepler is now struggling to do damage against right-handers. He has posted a .227/.325/.391 slash line against them on the season, and if Kepler is going to be a non-factor against left-handers, it would really behoove the Phillies for him to be more impactful than this against righties.

Kepler is walking and hitting the ball hard; we are still early enough in the season that one slump can paint an unfair picture of a player's ability. But his overall season-long OPS has dipped below .700 entering Friday, and that was where it landed in two of his last three seasons with the Minnesota Twins.

MORE: Andrew Painter picks up first win since 2022, ups pitch count

.657

The difference between J.T. Realmuto's OPS vs. right-handed pitching (.894) vs. left-handed pitching (.237).

It is still hard to tell what is happening here. During his career, Realmuto has never seen the sort of extreme platoon splits that Castellanos has produced with the Phillies. And in 2025, he is posting absurd reverse splits. Realmuto is slashing .310/.384/.510 against right-handed pitchers this season but has only two hits in 32 at-bats against lefties.

On the whole, Realmuto's offensive resurgence in May – .286/.375/.543 – has been extremely encouraging after a subpar April that fed into the widespread concerns about the veteran backstop's decline.

As of now, opposing managers appear to still be treating Realmuto as someone they would rather see facing a right-handed reliever than a lefty. It will be interesting to see how much longer this abnormal trend would have to persist for them to begin considering whether or not it is worth attacking Realmuto with southpaws.

4.2 percent

Alec Bohm's walk rate, a career-low.

Frustration with Bohm's approach reached an all-time high during last year's NLDS, when it felt like a miracle if he laid off a single pitch. Bohm has never been one to feel like he should not swing at a pitch he can poke for a base hit, but it has led to shaky results for much of his career. Bohm is taking free passes less often in 2025 than ever during his major-league career:

The good news: Bohm has started to find himself lately, connecting on his first two home runs of the season over his last eight games and raising his batting average by .030 with an 11-for-28 run during that period. He is clearing a very low bar now – a far cry from expectations that came with the cleanup spot and an All-Star nod last season – but at least he is producing.

.853

Brandon Marsh's OPS since returning from injury (nine games).

Marsh had the most hellish April imaginable, going hitless in 36 plate appearances before suffering an injury. But there have been some encouraging signs since his return on May 3. Marsh is still striking out often – that's always going to be part of his offensive profile – but he has three doubles in 24 plate appearances and is routinely making hard contact.

After a blazing start to the season in the last few days of March, the nightmarish April ensued for Marsh, but perhaps his May will provide something he can build on as he looks to regain his footing.

The pressure is on for Marsh, as Johan Rojas has played well enough to have already started eating into Marsh's starts in center field against right-handed pitching.

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