February 18, 2025
The pressure is on. After two straight playoff implosions in 2023 and 2024 — following a World Series loss in 2022 — the Phillies are running it back and are hoping to prove that their highly paid and highly talented roster has what it takes to be champions.
Philly will enter 2025 with the fourth-best World Series odds, behind the juggernaut Dodgers, Yankees and division rival Braves. They are tied with another rival in the Mets (at +1100 via FanDuel).
The NL East will be the division of death this summer, but the Phillies believe they have what it takes to defend that title.
As we do every season, as players work out and play exhibition games in Clearwater, we'll check in and tell you the prognosis and expectations for every player we expect to make the roster.
We'll continue today with first base, where the Phillies field a tried and true perennial MVP candidate...
It's entirely possible that Philadelphia is home to the two best free-agent signings in sports history. That might sound like an exaggeration, but Saquon Barkley just ran for the most yards in NFL history while leading the Eagles to a Super Bowl title, and Bryce Harper has won an NL MVP, NLCS MVP and three Silver Sluggers — all while fighting injuries left and right and learning a completely new position. Few have had a better six-year stretch with the bat than Harper has in Philly.
That Harper was a finalist for a Gold Glove at first base after playing his first full season ever there is remarkable. That he won a Silver Slugger as the best NL first baseman in the game, is even more remarkable.
Some of the best hitters in the sport play first, like Freddie Freeman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Pete Alonso and Paul Goldschmidt. Freeman is 35 and could be on the cusp of decline, and the Dodgers star is really the only hitter whose recent numbers rival Harper's.
Last year, Harper hit 30 homers, 87 RBI and slashed .285/.373/.525. He might not have been fully healthy for most of the year, and went through some pretty ugly homer-less slumps, but he still posted some of the best numbers in the majors and finished sixth in NL MVP voting.
The Phillies' entire high-powered lineup is centered around Harper, who could be moved to the 2-slot in the batting order for some of the year, per MLB.com, but will almost certainly still hit third quite a bit as manager Rob Thomson experiments with the lineup. Entering his seventh year as a Phillie, Harper is still just 32 and in the heart of his prime.
The NL East's first baseman will hit a lot of homers this season, but Harper is the hitter with the fewest weaknesses in the division:
| Team | Catcher (age) | 2024 stats | 2025 proj | Career WAR |
| Phillies | Bryce Harper (32) | .285, 30 HR, 87 RBI | .278, 24 HR, 76 RBI | 51.1 |
| Braves | Matt Olson (30) | .247, 29 HR, 98 RBI | .254, 32 HR, 95 RBI | 32.8 |
| Mets | Pete Alonso (30) | .240, 34 HR, 88 RBI | .241, 34 HR, 94 RBI | 19.8 |
| Marlins | Jonah Bride (29) | .276, 11 HR, 39 RBI | .239, 9 HR, 37 RBI | 0.5 |
| Nationals | Nathaniel Lowe (29) | .265, 16 HR, 69 RBI | .269, 17 HR, 65 RBI | 11.5 |
The Phillies, Braves and Mets each have a slugger at first who can lead the league in home runs or RBI, and then the Nats and Marlins each have a mercenary replacement-level hitter manning that position, likely holding it down until a prospect can assume the job. It will be interesting to see which of the big three first basemen is able to break through the most in 2025.
Of the Phillies' top 30 prospects (via FanGraphs), none of them plays first base. And that's probably by design. Harper's natural position throughout his career was right field, and of course any offensive player can theoretically be converted to the spot — but Harper is under contract until the end of the 2031 season and he is not blocking any high-profile prospects right now.
Nearing the midpoint of his 13-year, $330 million deal — one that looks like a steal with Juan Soto signing for $51 million a year with the Mets — it's possible Harper does get some kind of raise or extension sometime soon.
On days Harper is on the bench or at the DH spot, third baseman Alec Bohm is the man to back him up at first.
