Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and the Philadelphia Phillies are closing in on a playoff spot, and they’re clearly ready to roll when the clock hits October.
Although the Phillies suffered a 10-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon, they nonetheless locked up a fourth consecutive postseason berth. The Phillies are only one game away from clinching the NL East and sit 4 1/2 games up on the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL’s second Wild Card seed, which comes with a first-round bye.
“We expect to win a baseball game whenever we walk out of the locker room,” said Schwarber, who leads the National League with 52 home runs and 127 RBIs. “That’s just the way it is.”
Barring injury, we know that Schwarber and Harper will be in the Phillies’ playoff lineup, but how will the rest of it look? A glance at their typical daily lineups, mixed with common sense and recent trends, makes such a task easier than one might think.
Projecting the Philadelphia Phillies’ 2025 MLB postseason lineup
As of Sept. 15, here’s our best guess at the Phillies’ likely playoff lineup.
Batting order spot | Player |
|---|---|
1. | Trea Turner, SS |
2. | Kyle Schwarber, DH |
3. | Bryce Harper, 1B |
4. | J.T. Realmuto, C |
5. | Harrison Bader, CF |
6. | Brandon Marsh, LF |
7. | Nick Castellanos, RF |
8. | Edmundo Sosa, SS |
9. | Bryson Stott, 2B |
N/A (SP) | Cristopher Sánchez, SP |
Schwarber, Harper, and Realmuto have primarily hit in the No. 2 through No. 4 spots all season, so we feel comfortable sticking them here, too. The same applies to Turner, who has almost exclusively hit leadoff since June 6, assuming that he’s fully recovered from his current hamstring strain.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that Turner would not travel with the Dodgers to Los Angeles, and a timetable for his return remains unclear. The National League Division Series does not begin until Saturday, October 4.
Hitting Bader fifth would be interesting, seeing as he’s only hit there twice; Bader mainly hit sixth or seventh before moving into Turner’s leadoff spot last week. However, the Phillies should want as many at-bats from Bader, who owns a .349 average, 15 extra-base hits, and a .940 OPS in 143 plate appearances, as possible.
Back-to-back no-doubters off the bats of Brandon Marsh and Harrison Bader 😤 pic.twitter.com/LVtJMWO6F7
— MLB (@MLB) September 6, 2025
Otherwise, there aren’t too many surprises. Marsh has received more action in the six hole in recent weeks, and Castellanos’ subpar .702 OPS makes him an ideal candidate to bat near the bottom of the order.
We also figure that Cristopher Sanchez (13-5, 2.57) will start Game 1, and he’ll have certainly earned the right with his stellar 7.0 bWAR. Ranger Suárez (12-6, 2.77, and a 5.0 bWAR) makes sense to start Game 2, with Jesús Luzardo (14-6 and a 200-56 K-BB ratio in 169 2/3 innings) following in Game 3.
We must also remind Phillies fans of one vital point regarding their postseason roster. Veteran left-handed reliever José Alvarado is ineligible to pitch in the 2025 playoffs after serving an 80-game PED suspension earlier this season.