It is finally April, meaning baseball is back in full swing, and the Phillies are looking as sharp as ever. After a successful opening series in the nation’s capital, the Phillies just wrapped up their first homestand of the season against the Rockies, and locked up their second series win. While they did end up dropping one of the games to the Nationals in the opening series, they have looked, defensively at the very least, extremely sharp, and after a series back home in South Philly, the bats have started to come alive as well. With the crack of Schwarber’s bat or the pop of one of Wheeler’s heaters landing into JT’s glove, it’s just been nice to have Philly baseball back (almost) every day until October, if all goes well. After a loss last night to the struggling Atlanta Braves, the Phillies are now in second place, with a lot of the season still ahead of them.

The Opening weekend series away against NL East rivals, the Washington Nationals, picked up exactly where this veteran team left off in the 2024 postseason, with their bats struggling to gain ground while their starting pitching was elite, that is, until the seventh inning when the Phillies of lore started to emerge. After a fantastic quality start by Wheeler, their bats finally started showing up to secure him the Opening Day win in Washington. With the buzz and momentum of the season opener still lingering in the mid-Atlantic air of our nation’s capital, the Phils continued to swing the bats as their newest southpaw in Jesus Luzardo, took the mound in the away greys for the first time. After a solid first inning, Luzardo gave up a two-run home run to the Nationals’ red-hot catcher, Keibert Ruiz, after walking the speedy utilityman, Amed Rosario. However, after a few more innings, in the top of the fourth, another new face to Philly, Max Kepler, walked, then after a groundout from Castellanos came up Bryson Stott, who hit a rocket off of Jake Irving and managed to tie the game at two. Stott, who had a phenomenal start to the season both offensively and defensively, is looking at a big year ahead in 2025 after a down year in 2024; and with moments like this 349-foot homer to right field, is one of the many moments at the beginning of this season that could push him to his fullest potential (and potentially a Gold Glove). With the lower half of the lineup’s offense shining through once again in the late innings, the Phillies managed to secure the win yet again with an 11-6 victory. The last game, however, did go to the Nats as one of their newest additions in power bat Nathaniel Lowe and veteran first baseman Josh Bell went yard, powering the Nationals to a 5-1 win over the Phils to close out the series before the boys headed back up over the Delaware Memorial Bridge to everyone’s favorite home away from home, Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies opened their first homestand of the 2025 season with a series against the Colorado Rockies, and the series did not disappoint. Having attended the Phillies’ home Opening Day this year, I am still in awe of the electric energy at the park as fans gathered to celebrate their triumphant return home after a successful beginning to the 2025 season. Again, it was in the later innings that the Phillies’ bats came alive, but when they did, they truly awakened and gave fans a show. In the top of the sixth inning, the Rockies’ catcher, Hunter Goodman, muscled the first run of the game with a solo shot, but it didn’t matter come the bottom of the seventh when Bryson Stott came up and doubled to right. Then, after suffering from back tightness for a few days, none other than Trea Turner emerges from the home dugout to pinch hit for Brandon Marsh, and drew a walk. Another bright spot for the Phillies at the beginning of this season has been the super utilityman, Edmundo Sosa. He has been on an absolute tear, holding one of the best batting averages in the MLB right now. In this moment when he stepped into the box with Stott on second and Turner on first, he knew that something needed to be done to at least tie the game up. He did, and he did it well, hitting a double, knocking in both speedy middle infielders and giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead over Colorado. After Sosa’s heroics, the lineup flipped over, giving slugger Kyle Schwarber the chance to bat against the right-hander, Victor Vodnik, with an at-bat that launched another “Schwarbomb” into the seats in right field. The Phillies ended up winning the game 6-1, and managed to sweep the Rockies before welcoming the reigning World Series champions in the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Phillies/Dodgers series was one of the best series I’ve seen in the beginning stages of an MLB season in a very long time. With each game resembling the game of Pong, in which a little white ball, in our case a baseball, was just consistently being hit back and forth from both opposing sides. The Phillies ended up taking the first game 3-2 over the Dodgers after holding onto a one-run lead until the seventh inning, thanks to an error from Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the bottom of the first. In the seventh, it was the daycare duo of Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh who earned a RBI a piece; although, if it weren’t for Turner’s speed and Yamamoto’s pitch that got away from Dodgers catcher Will Smith, that game would’ve most likely gone into extras after the Dodgers started a late game rally. The second game went to the Dodgers, looking similar to the game a night prior, just this time favoring the West Coast powerhouses. Game three of this potential Championship Series matchup against the Phillies and Dodgers was an absolute slugfest. Assuming it was going to be a rubber match between Dodgers’ ace Tyler Glasnow and Phillies lefty Christopher Sanchez. The Dodgers took an early 2-0 lead, but in the third, fans were shocked and delighted to see Glasnow not on his “A game” as he walked the top three batters in the inning, followed by a bloop single from Bryce Harper, the Phillies were suddenly back in the game. After a few more walks and a wild pitch, Dave Roberts made a call to the pen, retrieving Alex Vesia to stop the bleeding, but to no avail. Castellanos stepped back into the box, nailing a grand slam over the left field wall. The Phillies, then up 6-2, were finally retired after ten men came up to the plate. It wouldn’t be a true game in Philly if the wheels didn’t start coming off to eventually blow the lead in the top of the seventh, but it was Stott and Sosa who answered the call again, earning themselves a RBI each, and the lead making the game then 8-7 which they were able to hold onto until the end of the game when Jose Alvarado came in to seal the deal and collect the save.

If the non “non-superstars” that the Phillies have continue to play as well as they do, they will be putting an end to the narrative that they should’ve traded guys during this past offseason, and it’s needed. With some homegrown talents in Stott and Bohm already starting to emerge and be successful again here in 2025, in addition to the likes of Kepler, Casty, Marsh, and Sosa, there is a significant chance. Baseball, while fun to see the stars shine, is still a team sport and takes every person on the roster to earn each win in the 162-game season, and with this year being so important to the Phillies to win, they’ll need the help from each man on the 40-man roster to get back to the promised land of October baseball in South Philly, but with the way they have been playing to start this season out, here’s hoping they don’t stumble so close to the finish line like they did last year in the NLDS. As long as they, as a group, can stay healthy and focused on “keeping the main thing the main thing,” as Jalen Hurts once said, I believe they will be in great shape and fans will be singing “High Hopes” alongside Harry Kalas well into the fall this year.