March 24, 2025
The Phillies are mere days away from beginning their quest to win back-to-back division titles. The larger prize, naturally, remains an elusive World Series title for this core Fightins group. What will 2025 be like for the Phils? Here are some takes from national media members regarding their shot at getting back to the postseason, their award chances and the possibility of winning the whole dang thing...
All five of CBS Sports' experts have the Phillies making the postseason with two of them, Mike Axisa and Dayn Perry, positioning the Phillies as soon-to-be NL East champions.
Axisa on the Phillies:
The Phillies have the division's best rotation (by a lot, I think) and the healthiest lineup heading into the season, so I have them atop the division. [CBS Sports]
Perry on the Phillies:
The Phillies have an aging roster, but they're primed for one more run. The trade for Jesús Luzardo deepens an already impressive rotation. [CBS Sports]
Shamus' take: It's all about the rotation for the Phillies, for the regular season at least. They'll carry the team to October once more, but how consistent the lineup is in the postseason will determine if there's a parade to come down Broad Street.
Polling 33 of its baseball scribes, The Athletic has Phillies ace Zack Wheeler as the favorite to snag his first-ever Cy Young Award. There were 14 writers who picked him to bring home the NL Cy Young.
The Athletic writes:
We have a handful of Corbin Burnes believers, one who’s expecting a big return from injury for Spencer Strider, and another who thinks 35-year-old Chris Sale is going to repeat as the NL Cy Young Award winner. Otherwise, our staff sees this as a two-horse race.
Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is the reliable option. He’s twice finished as Cy Young Award runner-up, and he’s gotten down-ballot Cy Young Award votes in two other seasons. Fourteen of our voters think this is the year he finally wins it. Paul Skenes is the young sensation coming off a Rookie of the Year season in which he started the All-Star Game and finished third in Cy voting. A dozen voters think his ascent to the top of the league is inevitable. It’s worth noting that our resident pitching expert, Eno Sarris, is among those who voted for Skenes. [Athletic/NYT/$]
Shamus' take: It's finally time for Wheeler. He should've won the award in 2024, too. He's on a historic run for this franchise and it should be capped off with an award of this magnitude.
MLB.com's Anthony Castrovince reeled off nine bold predictions ahead of the 2025 MLB season. They are appealing to Phillies fans not just because Castrovince has both New York squads missing out on the playoffs, but because his final prediction of them all: a Phillies championship.
Castrovince writes:
I’m old enough to remember when the Phillies were the best team in baseball at last year’s All-Star break. They had fallen in the 2022 World Series, gotten overconfident (and overzealous in the batter’s box) in the 2023 NLCS and learned the hard lessons it would take to reach their rightful destination as champions.
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Or so it appeared. Turns out, the Phillies were just a .500 team in the second half and were swiftly eliminated by the upstart Mets in the NLDS last fall.
So now this can go one of two ways: Either the Phillies regroup and finish the job with their elite core, or they rapidly show their age and go off a cliff.
I’m going with the first one, because that’s way more fun. If the Phillies stay healthy, they have as good a pitching staff as exists in this league. And when the lineup is on one of its heaters and making good swing decisions, it’s a mash unit.
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The NL is an absolute beast, and the Dodgers, especially, will be tough to top. But this is the year Bryce Harper and the boys get their ring. [MLB.com]
Shamus' take: The Phillies were NL East champs last season, of course, but I do truly believe this can be categorized as a bold prediction. The Mets are better than they were at this time last March and knocked off the Fightins last fall. Ronald Acuña Jr. played just 49 games for Atlanta in 2024 and will be back in his MVP form. That's before even getting to the looming juggernaut Dodgers and whatever the American League might hold.
Baseball is the ultimate random variance sport when it comes to the playoffs. Just get in and anything can happen. The Phillies were better on paper each successive season the last three years, but fell earlier in the postseason each time. If they hit October simply as a playoff team, they can get hot and mash their way to the title while relying heavily on their elite rotation.
Two championship parades in a single calendar year would be an all-time turn of events for this city. I wouldn't bank on it happening, but another Red October could provide those fireworks, certainly.
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