Who Will Be the Philadelphia Phillies Leadoff Hitter on Opening Day?

After the signing of shortstop Trea Turner, who will the Philadelphia Phillies turn to for leadoff duties in the upcoming 2023 MLB season?

The Philadelphia Phillies have a good problem to sort out heading into the 2023 MLB season: who will bat leadoff. For the majority of the 2022 MLB season slugger Kyle Schwarber batted leadoff for the Phillies. 

Schwarber performed his duties admirably, leading the National League in home runs (46) and posted a respectable OBP of .323. While he didn't lead Philadelphia in OBP, he performed well enough to continue justifying his spot in the order. 

However, the Phillies will have a decision to make now that they have signed superstar shortstop Trea Turner. An elite blend of speed, contact, and base stealing abilities, Turner is a prototypical leadoff batter. You couldn't draw it up any better.

And yet, Philadelphia may still insist on hitting Schwarber in the top spot next season.

If the Phillies were to drop Schwarber down to even the second spot in the lineup, the opportunity for RBI situations increases. The idea of having Schwarber hit leadoff is to continue to give him more opportunities per game to step up to the plate. Moving him down one spot wouldn't reduce those chances by much over the course of 162 games.

However, it would increase the chances that he could have someone on base ahead of him, particularly Turner who has special base running skills. It would turn those oft-hit doubles and home runs into more runs scored. Is that worth more than the 30-or-so extra at-bats that Schwarber received over the course of the entire season batting leadoff?

I would expect it is. 

This entire argument also hasn't factored in that Turner himself has some pop. The shortstop has 20 home run power, and while that isn't Schwarber level, it also doesn't eliminate the possibility of Turner getting a bit hit and jumpstarting momentum early. 

At the end of the day, the Phillies may stick with what helped them find success throughout last season and into the postseason. However, they now have perhaps the textbook definition of a leadoff hitter under contract for the next 11 years. 

I'd expect to see his skillset utilized as soon as Opening Day.

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