Phillies Home Opener Is Monday: What To Know

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Hope springs eternal, and the Phillies and all their World Series aspirations will breathe Red October fever back into the south Philadelphia air for the first time in months on Monday afternoon.

The team's home opener, an annual celebration of the unofficial start of Philadelphia summer, is set for 3:05 p.m.

Here's what you need to know.

Game start, TV, details

First pitch is at 3:05 p.m. The ceremonial first pitch will be thrown out moments before by Briar Jones, a 10-year-old patient at Nemours Children's Hospital in Delaware.

The game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Philadelphia and 94 WIP sports radio.

Pitching matchup

Budding Phillies ace Cristopher Sanchez, who has historically pitched extremely well at home, will take the mound in the opener in his own season debut. He'll face Colorado Rockies righty German Marquez.

The opponent

The Rockies are an intriguing young team with plenty of young talent that could take a step forward this year after struggling to the worst record in the National League in 2024. However, it's likely they'll once again be one of the lower ranked teams in baseball this year, and the Phillies are heavily favored to dispatch them in their opening series.

The Rockies started out the year 1-2, dropping two out of three to the Tampa Bay Rays.

How the Phillies look headed into the home opener

The Phillies opened their season in Washington, D.C. last Thursday, and the first three games went just about as well as they could have, with the Phillies taking two out of three and flashing all the poise, clutch, and dominance that they'll need to be a World Series contender. They won the first two games, 7-3 and 11-6, before the bats went cold in game three. But as legendary New York Yankees Hall of Fame manager Casey Stengal once said, "The Yankees don't pay me to win every day, just two out of three."

The highlights from that opening series: Zack Wheeler looked like a Cy Young in game one, and Jesus Luzardo looked like the best fifth man in baseball in game two. Aaron Nola gave up five runs in game three, but he struck out eight and three of those runs came on unlucky home run balls.

Importantly, the Phillies haven't looked like they're flailing at the plate. They struck out 13 times against Mackenzie Gore in the first six innings of game one, but that's widely believed to be due to the way the shadows fell on the pitcher and the sun on home plate at the start of the game. Kyle Schwarber has hit two home runs, Bryce Harper clubbed a mammoth shot in the opener, and Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh each had offensive explosions in game two.

Stadium changes

During the off season, the team installed two new full-color displays above and below the suite level. Comprising more than 3,100 square feet of screen space on the upper level and 3,700 on the lower level, these new displays can show real-time stats, interactive prompts to get fans hyped, various graphics, and they also coordinate with ballpark lighting effects to bathe The Bank in Phillies colors.

See full story: Here's What To Expect At Citizens Bank Park In 2025

The park also got 28 new subwoofers added to the terrace and pavilion decks, creating a wall of sound during pump up moments. These audio upgrades will also improve the dulcet tones of announcer Dan Baker as he calls games at the park. And when the Phillies hit a dinger, a new light show will illuminate the park from foul pole to foul pole. At the center of the light display is a new super-sized Xfinity logo which pulses with color during home run celebrations.

There are also a wide variety of new food and beverage options.

With reporting from Patch correspondent Max Bennett