Phillies Set Opening Day Lineup Ahead of Matchup With Washington Nationals

The Philadelphia Phillies have finalized their first batting order as they prepare for their Opening Day game against the Washington Nationals.

Mar 24, 2025; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner (7) is congratulated by designated hitter Kyle Schwarber (12) as he scores a run during the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at BayCare Ballpark. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies are preparing for their Opening Day matchup with the Washington Nationals, and have set their first lineup of the season.

This is what the Phillies batting order will look like against the Nationals, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki:

1. SS Trea Turner
2. 1B Bryce Harper
3. 3B Alec Bohm
4. DH Kyle Schwarber
5. C J.T. Realmuto
6. LF Max Kepler
7. RF Nick Castellanos
8. 2B Bryson Stott
9. CF Brandon Marsh

The first big change is that they will have Trea Turner leading off now after having him bat second last season. That will now move Bryce Harper up from batting third.

That matches a common baseball philosophy of putting the best batter in the lineup in the two hole, maximizing both their plate appearances and ability to drive people in.

This means Kyle Schwarber will no longer be in the leadoff role in this version of the lineup after he had one of the best leadoff hitting seasons of all time in 2024.

Schwarber had a .273/.376/.641 slash line as the first batter of the game with an MLB record 15 leadoff home runs.

His on-base percentage has also been higher than Turner's in recent years, but he does fit better as a traditional cleanup, so that could have played into the decision making.

The only other major change from last year is that Max Kepler will be starting in left field.

Kepler was signed this offseason with hopes of improving their weak outfield from a year ago.

He has been inconsistent throughout his career, but got off to a nice start with a .375/.500/.675 slash line this spring.