Welcome to Opening Day Philadelphia! You made it through the frigid winter and baseball is your reward. This year, the Philadelphia Phillies open their season in our nation’s capital against the Washington Nationals. A division rival fueled by a tweet from 2019, the Nationals are a young team looking to take the next step.
The Phillies look to jumpstart the 2025 campaign against the presumed 4th-place NL East finisher. Here’s what their 3-game series will look like.
Game 1: Wheeler vs. Gore
No surprise for the Phillies, Zack Wheeler is their Opening Day starter for the 2nd year in a row. One of the best pitchers in baseball, Wheeler starts 2025 in search of his first Cy Young Award. He’s finished as runner-up in 2021 and 2024.
In 2024, Wheeler was only one of 4 pitchers in all of baseball to eclipse 200 innings. He also led the league in WHIP (0.955) and H/9 (6.3). In his Opening Day start in 2024, Wheeler threw 6 scoreless innings against the Braves, only allowing 5 hits.
MacKenzie Gore will make his first Opening Day start for the Nationals. The 23-year-old southpaw had a decent season in 2024, posting a 3.90 ERA in 32 starts for the Nats. In 4 starts against the Phillies, Gore had a 3.42 ERA with 24 Ks in 23.2 IP.
The big thing to watch for will be the Phillies’ lineup. Manager Rob Thomson mentioned he will run 2 lineups depending on the handedness of the starter. Be prepared to see Trea Turner bat leadoff.
Game 2: Jesús Luzardo‘s Phillies debut
The biggest trade the Phillies made in the offseason will be on display in game 2 of the season. Jesús Luzardo was acquired from the Miami Marlins for Stralin Caba and Emaarion Boyd. The hard-throwing lefty had an injury-laden season in 2024.
He struggled in Spring Training. His 9.49 ERA can be partially attributed to the home run nature of Florida Spring Training. He allowed 5 homers in 12.1 IP. A 3.6 HR/9 rate is not sustainable in the regular season for even the worst of pitchers.
Luzrado will be looking to regain his 2022-23 form, in which he recorded a 3.48 ERA with a 10.6 K/9 rate.
Game 3: Happy 10th anniversary Aaron Nola
The passage of time is an unstoppable force. Take Aaron Nola for example. The Phillies righty veteran celebrates his 10th anniversary in Major League Baseball, if you can believe 2015 was 10 years ago.
Blink and you missed Nola become one of the best starting pitchers in Phillies history. He’s fourth on the all-time Phillies strikeout list and could easily reach the record for a right-handed pitcher by the end of the season. Only 92 strikeouts separate him and Hall of Famer Robin Roberts.
He owned the Nationals in 2024. In 4 starts, Nola posted a 1.85 ERA against the Nats. He’ll look to continue that trend on Saturday.
Mandatory Credit: Chris Tilley-Imagn Images
