New Phillies Lineup: Trea Turner to Lead Off in 2023?

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In 2022, Kyle Schwarber led off for the Phillies almost by default. The Phillies simply didn’t have a lot of other options in the top spot, and Schwarber responded with a career-high – and NL-leading – 46 home runs. Wouldn’t that pop be even nicer with more runners on base? It sounds like that will be the case in 2023 with free agent acquisition Trea Turner likely to lead off for the Phightin’s.

Schwarber hit just .218 last year, with most of those at-bats in the lead-off spot. His OBP, however, was .327. Turner, on the other hand, hit .298 with an OBP of .343, which was actually his lowest since 2017. Turner brings quite a bit more speed to the top of the lineup as well. While Schwarber stole a career-high 10 bases in 2022 and won America free tacos in the World Series, Turner swiped 27 bags. He’s got five seasons with 30 or more steals and twice led the league (43 in 2018 and 32 in 2021).

Getting someone like Turner on the bases for Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins makes the Phillies lineup potentially even more dangerous than it was a year ago. It will only get scarier when Bryce Harper returns around the all-star break. Harper’s return could also allow Rob Thompson to tinker with some other lineup combinations, but until then it makes too much sense for Turner to be the everyday lead-off hitter.

Where it could get interesting until Harper’s return is after Turner and Schwarber. If Thomspon goes with Hoskins three and Realmuto in the cleanup spot, you could have three righties in a row if Nick Castellanos slides in at five. Alec Bohm added 15 lbs of muscle this off-season and hit .280 last year so he could conceivably hit in the five spot as well. So too, could potential DH Darick Hall who hit 9 home runs in 136 ABs, many of which came while Harper was on the DL. Hall primarily feasted on righties, though.