Could Phillies Make Change at Leadoff Hitter?

The past two seasons, the Philadelphia Phillies have boasted one of the scariest lineups in Major League Baseball, headlined by Bryce Harper and other star sluggers around him.

One of the most interesting aspects of their lineup is the leadoff hitter.

Normally, a high percentage on-base guy is slotted in this spot, but the Phillies have done things different.

Kyle Schwarber is their normal leadoff hitter, despite having a batting average of .206 during his two seasons in Philadelphia.

This has been a major topic of conversation and criticism among people in the city and around baseball, but his on-base percentage of .333, with an OPS+ of 126, has regularly kept him in that spot.

It's also helped that Schwarber smashed a National League-leading 46 home runs in 2022 and 47 homers last season.

But, it's hard not to think about what his power could look like with others on base instead of just him up at the plate solo to start games.

Well, Phillies Nation is projecting there actually might be a change coming to the leadoff role this upcoming season as they predict it will be Trea Turner who slots into the No. 1 spot.

The star shortstop would be a much more orthodox leadoff hitter with a batting average of .296 and an on-base percentage of .349 during his nine year career.

They're also predicting that Schwarber would slot in behind Turner with Nick Castellanos following him and Harper in the fourth spot.

Of course, this is all a guess.

There's been really no indication to suggest that manager Rob Thomson would play around with his lineup, especially when the Phillies had during their cold streak in the playoffs last year and nothing was adjusted.