2025 season preview: Predictions for the infield

It should be a solid season around the diamond

We’ve spent the week laying out the Phillies’ infield situation, and I’ll conclude by going around the horn and offering a prediction for each player.

Bryce Harper

In the first half of 2024, it looked like Harper might contend for another MVP award, but a rough month of July kept his overall numbers in the great, but not amazing range. Still, a Silver Slugger award to go along with a top ten finish in MVP voting is a nice piece of work.

I expect a similar performance from Harper this year. As long as he can avoid injuries (the beanball he suffered this week is a bad start in that regard), he should hit 30+ home runs and have an OPS over .900. And after being a finalist for the award last year, he will break through and capture the Gold Glove at first base.

Bryson Stott

One story that has emerged this Spring has been that Stott fought through an injury last year. That might be revisionist history, but it would explain some of his offensive struggles. I think we’ll see an offensive season closer to 2023, and he’ll get his OPS back above .700. Combined with excellent defense, that makes the Phillies’ situation at second A-O-K.

Trea Turner

Turner’s move to the leadoff spot has been one of the main stories in Phillies camp. Will the shift allow him to revert to the consistent on-base machine he was before he signed with the Phillies? Or will he remain the inconsistent player who seems to swing for home runs looks like either the best or worst player in baseball on any given night?

His batting title days are likely behind him, but I do think we’ll get a little more consistency from Turner. Look for a slightly higher batting average, and a few less home runs, and he will stick at leadoff for the entire season. His numbers might look less flashy, keeping him from a second straight All-Star appearance, but overall, I think this version of Turner will be more beneficial for the team.

Alec Bohm

Even though the team never officially said he was on the trade market, it was clear that they wouldn’t have minded moving on from Bohm this past offseason. For a player whose performance sometimes seems to hinge on his emotional state, that’s probably not a good thing.

Bohm won’t go back to a “I f***ing hate this place” disaster, but another All-Star selection probably isn’t in the cards either. He’ll end up being average at the plate, and passable in the field in what will end up being his final season in Philadelphia.

Edmundo Sosa

Sosa is expected to once again serve as the team’s utility infielder, and the team has also been seeing if he can capably hang in the outfield. But I’m not so sure that more Sosa is a good thing. He’s almost exactly what you want as a bench utility player: A solid defender at multiple positions, who isn’t a zero with the bat.

It just seems that with Sosa, you get diminishing returns the more he plays. When Turner was on the Injured List early in 2024, Sosa filled in admirably, recording a .968 OPS through the end of May. But regression came calling, and his offensive numbers sagged the rest of the season.

I predict Sosa will continue to be a good utility player, but he won’t have the offensive burst we saw last year, while the outfield experiment will quietly come to an end.

Kody Clemens

Due to the left-handedness of the rest of the roster, Clemens seems unlikely to be with the big-league club on Opening Day, but it feels safe to say that he’ll find his way to Philadelphia at some point in the season. At this point, Clemens probably is what he is: He can fill in at multiple positions (although you’d prefer him in the corners) and while he’s a below average offensive player, he will give you the occasional clutch hit. In other words: He’s a cromulent bench player.

Buddy Kennedy

Thanks to a couple of big hits, and an easily chantable name, Kennedy became a fan favorite last season. With the injury to Weston Wilson, Kennedy has a chance to make the Opening Day roster, but I don’t envision much of an impact. He’ll probably be part of a season-long churn of the final roster spot or two. Best case scenario is that he gets another key hit somewhere along the way, prompting another round of “BUD-DY! BUD-DY!” from the crowd.

Kyle Schwarber

I suppose I should mention that Schwarber has seen some action at first base this Spring. I doubt he’ll play more than a handful of games there barring a Harper injury, but I suppose it’s worth seeing if they could free up the designated hitter spot every once in a while.

While he profiles well offensively, based on what we’ve seen from him in the outfield, I wouldn’t expect Schwarber to be much of a defender at first base. But much like with Ryan Howard, if a player is going to be one of the best power hitters in the league, you’ll put up with some defensive shortcomings at first base.

Overall, the Phillies’ infield is in solid shape. I don’t think they’ll have three-fourths of the starting lineup at the All-Star Game again, but it should remain one of the better units in baseball.