Phillies Opening Day Is Today: What To Know As 2025 Season Begins

PHILADELPHIA, PA — Spring has arrived, and Opening Day for the Phillies is set for Thursday afternoon down in Washington D.C., the opening mile on a punishing and withering seven-month long road to the World Series.

Stalwart ace Zack Wheeler, likely to once again be one of the two or three pitchers in all of baseball, will take the mound for the Phillies for the second consecutive Opening Day. He'll be opposed by the Nationals powerful lefty and rising young star Mackenzie Gore, who will give Philly's lefty-heavy lineup a challenge on day one.

Related: Phillies 2025 Season Preview: World Series Or Bust

Here's a glance at what you need to know ahead of the opener.

First pitch, weather, how to watch

The game will begin at 4:05 p.m. at Nationals Park in D.C. Game time weather appears dreamlike for Opening Day: 58 and sunny for first pitch, rising into the low 60s by 6 p.m. and staying clear into the early evening. A light 6 to 8 mile per hour breeze will blow through the area.

The game will be broadcast on NBC 10 and 94 WIP radio, and for the first time ever, fans can also stream Phillies games through MLB.tv.

Once again, it's World Series or bust

The Nationals finished fourth place in a loaded NL East division last year with a 71-91 record that belies the amount of young and growing talent on their roster. Gore headlines a prospect-laden rotation, and they have a swath of highly touted young position players looking for breakout years. The Nats could be good, even great, within the next few years, but they're unlikely to put up too much of a sustained fight in a division that includes what most experts and statistical models believe to be three of the top five teams in the sport: the Phillies, Braves, and Mets (the Dodgers and the Yankees generally fill out that top five).

The Phillies are the defending National League East champions, putting up one of the best records in all of baseball in 2024 at 95-67. The postseason ended in heartbreak that was more anti-climactic than the deeper runs of the two previous Red Octobers, as the Phils fell to their rival New York Mets in the divisional series.

The Phillies had a quiet offseason by their own immoderate standards, eschewing major signings for smaller and shrewder deals. They returned almost their entire roster, minus Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez out of the back of the bullpen. They replaced that duo with All Star closer Jordan Romano. They then added crafty lefthander Jesus Luzardo in a trade with the Marlins, shoring up what is probably the best starting rotation in the game. And they signed free agent outfielder Max Kepler, who will be their everyday left fielder following the exit of rental Austin Hays and the demotion of Johan Rojas to fourth outfielder.

The team has never been shy about their aspirations, and they've never minded one way or another what analysts believe they can do. They stunned the world with their run to the World Series in 2022, and have seemed destined in the past two Octobers to bring a championship back to Philadelphia.

"This is a highly motivated team coming into this season," manager Rob Thomson told MLB.com this week. "There’s a hunger here I haven’t seen before. That doesn’t mean there hasn’t been hunger before. But it’s even more apparent now, like next level...there’s no doubt in my mind that heartbreak can really motivate a group when they act as a group, and this group does, it’s as together as any team we’ve had here. They celebrate together, they mourn together. To me, that’s a very big deal.”

The batting order

The Phillies have been talking all winter about shuffling around their batting order, which has had power hitting Kyle Schwarber atop the lineup for most of their recent run of success over the past three years. It's possible that they could use the most obvious and more conventional man for the job, speedster Trea Turner.

If Turner leads off, Bryce Harper could bat second, and Thomson could use Alec Bohm or J.T. Realmuto to get a right handed batter between Harper and their other big lefty, Schwarber. Some in the fandom find great meaning in the order; Phillies leadoff legend and current special advisor Jimmy Rollins is among those who have called for the team to make the switch, he recently told NBC 10.

The Phillies themselves, citing data science, do not believe the order is of tremendous importance. They front office has said so for years. What seems more important to them is finding a rhythm for players. If whatever they start with works, expect it to stick for most of the season.