Roundtable: What’s the best story of the Phillies season so far?

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies are 24-17 through the quarter mark of the season. Notable storylines have emerged, from Kyle Schwarber’s incredible start to Taijuan Walker’s resurgence.

What’s the best story of the 2025 Phillies season? Phillies Nation writers weighed in.

Bailey Digh — Staff Writer — Kyle Schwarber’s Epic Start

You won’t find a bad stat when combing through his numbers. He’s been the Phillies’ best hitter so far in 2025. He’s been one of the most productive hitters in baseball through the first quarter of the season. Kyle Schwarber is the best story on the Phillies right now.

Known as a slow starter, Schwarber’s on a scorcher to start 2025. Through 41 games, he’s batting .268 with 14 home runs, tied with Aaron Judge for the most in Major League Baseball. He has a .985 OPS, by far the highest he’s ever posted in his first 41 games of a season while with the Phillies; second is the .731 OPS he recorded in the first 41 contests of 2022. It’s also the highest OPS he’s posted in the first 41 games of any season during his decade-long career.

Schwarber’s also reached base safely in every game this season and in 47 consecutive games overall. It’s the fourth-longest on-base streak since 1900 for the Phillies. He’s hitting righties well (.855 OPS) and mashing lefties (1.220 OPS). His strikeout rate (20.3%) is the lowest it’s ever been. He’s so much fun to watch at the dish right now. It’s almost as if he can do no wrong.

Schwarber posted 3.5 wins above replacement last season, per Baseball Reference. He’s on pace to nearly double that this season. Schwarber leads all Phillies position players with a 1.7 WAR.

It’s remarkable what Schwarber is doing. It’s not even June yet, and he’s as locked in as ever. No longer the club’s leadoff hitter, Schwarber remains the Phillies’ most impactful hitter. He’s their best story so far.

Nathan Ackerman — Staff Writer — Contributions from the Newcomers

The story of the offseason was about the Phillies “running it back,” so the story of the first quarter-ish season should be a correction: Not really.

The newcomers have been a lot. The bullpen was the Phillies’ obvious weakness entering the season; it held especially true for the first few weeks while Jordan Romano pitched terribly, and it steadied itself as he did the same. Was it a good choice, in a vacuum, to replace Jeff Hoffman with Romano? Maybe not. But he could pitch well enough to deem it not disastrous.

Max Kepler was the only addition to the offense, and his .229/.315/.405 slash is misleading, if only because the last week dropped his OPS by 86 points. He plays a scrappy brand of baseball with a strong approach at the plate and stellar defense in left field; the Phillies are better for it, especially given questions around Brandon Marsh’s capability as an everyday guy.

And then there’s the big fish. Jesús Luzardo has been one of the best few pitchers in the National League, and he represents a doubling down on the Phillies’ greatest strength, their rotation. He’s been more than just a cherry on top of an already stellar unit; he could wind up starting a Game 3 (or 2?) if the Phillies play one in October. The trade didn’t win many people over because it didn’t fill a hole. But a great addition is a great addition, wherever it comes.

Ty Daubert — Editorial Director — Taijuan Walker’s Resurgence

Those boos at the home opener feel like a long time ago now, as Taijuan Walker has reemerged as a contributor to start this Phillies season.

The veteran right-hander’s performance was horrendous last year, putting his role with the team into question. But his arsenal improved this spring and sustained as he began the season in the rotation due to an injury to Ranger Suárez.

Walker delivered in six starts. He kept the Phillies in games and kept hitters off balance. With Suárez back, Walker was moved to the bullpen, and he earned his first career save in a three-inning, seven strikeout appearance last week.

With a 2.30 ERA in 31 1/3 innings, Walker has undoubtedly helped his club. He didn’t do that much last season. Walker is not the best or most consequential pitcher on this Phillies staff, but his one-year turnaround has been pretty remarkable.

Destiny Lugardo — Site Director — The Turnaround Part 2?

Whether or not this is the best possible version of Trea Turner is debatable, but his transformation from a streaky power bat with speed to an on-base machine has been remarkable. He has started to swing outside of the strike zone a little more often in the past couple of days. Maybe a cold stretch is coming, but the fact that it’s mid May and he hasn’t had one yet is a testament to his consistency. He has gone hitless in back-to-back games started only once all season. He has reached base safely in all but three games.

Turner talked about “raising the floor” in spring training. Rob Thomson wanted Turner to focus more on getting on base for Schwarber and Harper behind him. The best hitters are the ones that can pull off these dramatic identity transformations. Schwarber is the best example of this so far, but Turner deserves recognition for putting in the work to be who the Phillies want him to be at the plate. 

It’s nice to see in the context of Turner’s career with the Phillies so far. He has been criticized for not living up to the big contract. Phillies fans are seemingly enjoying — and appreciating — this version of Turner.