The Philadelphia Phillies have had a revolving door in center field for nearly the past decade. Will that continue in 2025?
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber, the Phillies have had eight different Opening Day center fielders in the last eight seasons:
- Aaron Altherr in 2018
- Odúbel Herrera in 2019
- Roman Quinn in 2020
- Adam Haseley in 2021
- Matt Vierling in 2022
- Brandon Marsh in 2023
- Johan Rojas in 2024
If Rojas isn’t manning center when the Phillies face the Washington Nationals on March 27, that would make it nine in nine seasons.
Rojas isn’t guaranteed a starting spot going into 2025. While he plays good defense, his offensive production has been abysmal. In 2024, he slashed .243/.279/.322, with a 69 OPS+, and struck out 19% of the time while his walk rate was a putrid 3.6%.
The Phillies were hoping Brandon Marsh would have been their franchise center fielder after trading for him in 2022, but that hasn’t worked out. He’s essentially a platoon player at this point since he struggles mightily against left-handed pitching.
If there’s one area the Phillies are looking to upgrade their lineup for 2025, it’s the outfield. The team will be looking for a power-hitting outfielder who doesn’t consistently chase pitches out of the strike zone (hello Juan Soto?), but other options could be available, including in-house.
Top Philadelphia Phillies prospect could take over center field in 2025
The Phillies are high on 20-year-old Justin Crawford. The son of former All-Star Carl Crawford, Justin Crawford was the Phillies’ first-round pick in 2022.
He has steadily climbed the minor league ranks, getting promoted to the Double-A last year. Across 40 Double-A games, Crawford slashed .333/.380/.455, with 14 extra-base hits and 15 stolen bases.
Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is known for pushing top prospects to the big leagues. He did it with the Boston Red Sox with Andrew Benintendi and Rafael Devers.
“I’m not sure that, [as] we go into spring training, we’re going to count on him being one of our big-league starting outfielders, but he has a lot of ability,” Dombrowski told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “It wouldn’t surprise me if he came at any time [next season].”
With the window of this current Phillies’ core closing, the front office is looking to upgrade an inconsistent offense by any means necessary. Despite winning the National League East, they fell to the New York Mets in the National League Division Series in four games.
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