Philadelphia Phillies Skipper Considering Moving Superstar to Leadoff Role

One of the Philadelphia Phillies superstars could be the new leadoff man in 2025.

Jul 7, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson (59) makes a pitching change against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Truist Park / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Barring something unforeseen at this point in time, the Philadelphia Phillies pretty much have their roster set heading into the upcoming season.

This winter hasn't produced the overhaul that many fans were hoping for after another early exit from the playoffs, but based on their financial constraints due to the sheer amount of money already committed to their current players, there isn't a whole lot they can realistically do.

So, as the Phillies get prepared for a 2025 campaign where they have a lot of goodwill to earn back, manager Rob Thomson is trying to figure out a way to deploy his best lineup that prevents this group from going through lulls that were present during the second half of the year and into the postseason.

The leadoff spot has been a hot topic of discussion.

Kyle Schwarber certainly isn't the prototypical No. 1 hitter, having broken a Major League record with the number of home runs he led off games with, but his poor batting average and high strikeout numbers have been a point of contention for the fan base.

Thomson was mulling moving him out of that spot in 2024, but the slugger was able to be more than an all-or-nothing hitter by increasing his batting average 51 percentage points to .248 this past year.

Schwarber still strikes out a lot, but he led the National League in walks which was always one of the arguments for having him be the leadoff man in the first place.

But, Thomson is open to a new approach, perhaps putting a more traditional hitter into that spot and moving Schwarber down the lineup to create more of an opportunity for runs being scored with the longball instead of it being a solo shot.

Who might he consider?

According to Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the skipper is viewing Bryce Harper as an option.

"Harper? He has led off before, including eight games for Gabe Kapler in 2019, but feels most comfortable in the No. 3 spot. Thomson said it would be a 'long conversation,' although he sounded prepared to have it," the insider wrote.

That would certainly be interesting.

Harper has been one of the best players in Major League Baseball since he signed a then-historic contract in March 2019.

Tinkering with where he's at in the lineup seems like one of the last things that should be done.

If this does happen, though, it's something that more and more teams are doing around the league since that gives their best players more opportunities to make a difference throughout games.

"The more at-bats you get for the best hitters, the better chances you have. That's the idea behind it," Thomson previously stated.

Whether this comes to fruition will be seen.

Right now, there are a lot of ideas being floated by the coaching staff and organization about how their team can improve, and Philadelphia is certainly no different based on how things have ended the past two years.