Our ideal Phillies Opening Day lineups

Rob Thomson, if you’re listening, hear us out on our ideal Opening Day lineups.

Justin Crawford in center field and Adolis García in right field likely represent the only personnel changes from the 2025 Opening Day lineup against the Washington Nationals. Trea Turner opened the season as the leadoff hitter, with Bryce Harper hitting behind him and Kyle Schwarber batting cleanup.

Assuming the Phillies face right-handed pitcher Jacob deGrom on Opening Day against the Texas Rangers, here’s how our staff writers would draw up the lineup for the first game of the season.

Destiny Lugardo’s Ideal Opening Day Lineup 

1. Bryce Harper, 1B 
2. Kyle Schwarber, DH 
3. Trea Turner, SS 
4. Brandon Marsh, LF
5. Adolis García, RF
6. Bryson Stott, 2B 
7. J.T. Realmuto, C
8. Justin Crawford, CF
9. Edmundo Sosa, 3B 

I don’t know if Harper will ever truly buy into hitting leadoff, but I like the idea of a (hopefully) more disciplined version of Harper taking his walks in front of Schwarber to begin the game. We at least can’t blame lack of protection for underperformance from Harper in this kind of arrangement. 

Marsh in the cleanup spot seems absurd until you look back at his numbers against right-handed pitching (.838 OPS in 2025). They will have to pinch-hit for him late in games because opposing teams will throw out left-handed relievers against him. Four through nine is a nice left-right balance. 

This probably won’t happen, but I continue to believe that Alec Bohm shouldn’t be guaranteed to start at third base on Opening Day. Edmundo Sosa is also in a walk year. He has been the Phillies’ 10th man since the middle of the 2022, a role that he’s probably overqualified for. I wouldn’t mind carving out more than a platoon role for Sosa.

Bailey Digh’s Ideal Opening Day Lineup

1. Trea Turner, SS
2. Bryce Harper, 1B
3. Kyle Schwarber, DH
4. Adolis García, RF
5. Brandon Marsh, LF
6. Alec Bohm, 3B
7. Bryson Stott, 2B
8. J.T. Realmuto, C
9. Justin Crawford, CF

Lineup construction and protection are overrated. But I don’t think it would hurt having Harper bat second with Schwarber behind him to see if it can help the two-time NL MVP. No matter where he hits and who hits behind him, Harper will have to tweak his approach to return to the .900 OPS hitter he’s been for most of his Phillies tenure. Maybe protecting him with Schwarber helps with that.

As for the rest of the lineup, García over Bohm in the cleanup spot is more of a Bohm thing than a García thing. Bohm is going to draw a lot of criticism; there are so many reasons why. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to keep Bohm out of the middle of the lineup to start the season. Maybe it helps him ease his way into things while also being motivating. Maybe not. Either way, at some point – maybe it will be Opening Day – I do expect Bohm to be the Phillies’ four-hole hitter. And it will continue to be a less-than-ideal situation.

Marsh fifth makes sense because he’s been good against right-handed pitching. The bottom third of Stott, Realmuto and Crawford continues the left-right-left pattern.

Nathan Ackerman’s Ideal Opening Day Lineup

1. Trea Turner, SS
2. Bryce Harper, 1B
3. Kyle Schwarber, DH
4. Alec Bohm, 3B
5. Brandon Marsh, LF
6. Adolis García, RF
7. Bryson Stott, 2B
8. J.T. Realmuto, C
9. Justin Crawford, CF

The temptation to hit García cleanup is real, and it will get more real if he bounces back and Bohm stagnates. But Bohm’s higher floor — he’ll at least make contact — makes the job his to lose, for now. (Plus, remember his last Opening Day against deGrom?) He’s not an ideal cleanup hitter, obviously, and some consistency from García could (should) kick him out of that spot. Let’s first see if García can get there.

The rest is pretty chalky. Leading off did indeed unlock the best version of Turner last year; run that back. Harper and Schwarber each either hit or destroy lefties, so there’s no issue with the back-to-back. Marsh, against righties, may be overqualified for the five-hole, so if the Phillies want to get really creative and do something like Destiny’s suggestion, it would be hard to blame them.

Realmuto may not feel honored to hit eighth, but it’s the most sensible spot for him given the left-right balance. Crawford at nine is at best a great table-setter and at worst your typical struggling nine-hole hitter who hopefully plays average defense.

Ty Daubert’s Ideal Opening Day Lineup

1. Kyle Schwarber, DH
2. Trea Turner, SS
3. Bryce Harper, 1B
4. Alec Bohm, 3B
5. Brandon Marsh, LF
6. Adolis García, RF
7. Bryson Stott, 2B
8. J.T. Realmuto, C
9. Justin Crawford, CF

Schwarber proved himself as one of the most dangerous hitters in baseball in 2025, and the Phillies would be wise to get him as many plate appearances as possible this upcoming season. There’s no easier way to do that than by moving the star slugger back to the No. 1 spot. Schwarber has plenty of experience as the Phillies’ leadoff man, and he’s started many important games off with a bang for Philadelphia. Sure, this position in the batting order might cost him some RBI opportunities, but the tradeoff of additional Schwarber at-bats over the course of the year should benefit the Phillies. His bat is just too lethal to move down in the lineup. 

In this scenario, Harper can stay in his preferred No. 3 spot with Bohm behind him. It’s not ideal protection, but there’s no perfect option to bat cleanup on this team. No matter how it shakes out, the Phillies feel a bit thin in the middle of the order. But the club can hope Bohm turns back into a doubles machine like he was in 2024, and Marsh should be a viable fifth hitter against right-handed pitching.

Perhaps Realmuto could work his way up in the lineup if he can bounce back stronger than he was last year, but eighth feels like the right spot for him to start the season. And Crawford’s contact-oriented approach could allow him to turn the lineup over from the No. 9 hole if he can translate his success as a prospect to the next level.