What to Learn from the Phillies Sweep Over the Rockies
Entering the 2025 season, the Phillies were viewed as a team where it is championship or bust team for the year. So far, to start the season, the Phillies have a 5-1 record and have now collected their first series sweep of 2025 over the Rockies. The Phillies took the first game 6-1, followed the second game 5-1, and finally clinched the sweep 3-1. In this series, the Phillies held the Rockies to only three runs, while offensively, players who struggled in the first series against the Nationals bounced back, and the emergence of Edmundo Sosa. Now, six games into the season, what is the outlook for the Phillies heading toward a massive series against the Dodgers?
The Phillies’ Bats Continue to Start Slow but Heat up Late in the Game
So far this season, the Phillies’ offense has started slow in each of the first six games and has especially struggled against starting pitchers. To start the year, the Phillies have only scored five runs against starting pitchers in a combined 35.1 innings of work. Inside those 35.1 innings, the Phillies have only recorded runs against two starting pitchers: the Rockies’ Kyle Freeland and the Nationals’ Jake Irvin. On the other hand, once the opponent’s starting pitcher is removed from the game, the Phillies offense strikes. In the Rockies series alone, 11 out of the team’s 14 runs throughout the series came against members of the bullpen. The Phillies, despite starting slow in most games, get hot quickly at the plate, which results in runs scoring in bunches. The Phillies scored two or more runs in a single inning four times this series by itself. Heading deeper into the season, the Phillies will need to fix their struggles early in games, but for now, the team is still winning.
Starting Rotation Continues to Excel and Go Deep Into Their Starts
The Phillies came into 2025 with one of the best rotations in baseball. The unit, headlined by Zack Wheeler, has delivered to expectations so far. The rotation took an early hit with Ranger Suárez heading to the IL, resulting in Taijuan Walker being thrown into a starting spot. Walker has struggled since coming to Philadelphia with a 7.10 ERA last season in only 83.2 innings of work. To start 2025, however, Walker provided a solid performance in his first action against the Rockies. In the Phillies 3-1 win over the Rockies on Thursday, Walker only allowed three hits in six innings of work while striking out four batters. The possible early season of Walker could play a huge factor as Suarez continues to work back from injury.
Outside of Walker, the Phillies picked up two quality performances from Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez. Sanchez had the assignment for the first game of the series, in which he performed well. In his start, Sanchez pitched 5.1 innings and struck out seven while only giving up one run. The Phillies will look for Sanchez to have another huge year and take that next step for them as a starter. As for the second game of the series, the Phillies called upon their ace, and he delivered, shutting down the Rockies’ offense completely. In the game, Wheeler went seven innings en route to 10 strikeouts and giving up only one run. The Phillies will rely on their rotation to compete with some of the best teams in the NL heading deeper into the season.
Bounceback Performances from Some and Breakout Performances for Others
Though the Phillies won the series against the Nationals last week, not everyone performed well in that series. Now entering the second series of the year, some players for the Phillies found their groove offensively again. More specifically, that case is for Trea Turner and J.T. Realmuto. For Turner, he struggled in the first series with zero hits and got hurt before the second game even started. Now, against the Rockies, Turner found some success as he raised his batting average to 0.308 with an RBI and a stolen base as well. For Realmuto, it is a similar story, as he only had one hit and four strikeouts in the first two games. Like Turner, Realmuto found success against the Rockies with four hits in the series, along with two stolen bases. However, it was Edmundo Sosa who was the star of the series for the Phillies. Sosa entered the lineup as a result of Turner’s injury and jumped out to a blazing start. In the two games this series that he played in, Sosa had five hits with four RBIs to help the Phillies win the first two games of the series. The Phillies will rely on all three pieces in order to complete their goal of winning the World Series.
