Top star made his first home start of the season at Citizens Bank Park, delivering a dominant seven-inning performance in which he allowed just one run on three hits.
The Phillies’ ace secured his first win of 2025 with a 5-1 victory over the Rockies, capping off the outing with his 26th career game of at least 10 strikeouts. But really, was anyone surprised?
Phillies manager Rob Thomson certainly wasn’t, recognizing it as the norm for Wheeler at this stage in his career. “He was great,” Thomson said after the win. “It seems like the same thing every night, you know?”
The lone blemish came from Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman, who homered off Phillies starting pitching for the second straight game. So far, Colorado’s only two runs in the series belong to him.
Now sitting at 4-1, the Phillies have secured consecutive series wins to open their 2025 campaign—something they’ve done just 20 times in franchise history.
Slowly—but with an emphasis on slowly—the Phillies’ offense is starting to break through against opposing starters. Before Wednesday’s game, 23 of their 25 runs had come against bullpen arms.
They finally added to that total against Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland, who entered the night with a spotless 0.00 ERA after six scoreless innings in his season debut against the Rays.
Alec Bohm set things in motion in the fourth with a sharp single, and Kyle Schwarber continued his early hot streak with an RBI double, marking the first time this season the Phillies struck first. Moments later, Schwarber crossed the plate on a soft dribbler from J.T. Realmuto.
Schwarber’s aggressive approach, smart baserunning, and overall consistency have proven that no matter where he hits in the lineup, he’ll produce. He currently leads the team in RBIs (7), home runs (3), and runs scored (5, tied with Bryson Stott).
However, even more impressive right now is the scorching stretch Edmundo Sosa is on.
Making his first start of the season at second base, Sosa went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, extending his streak to four consecutive multi-hit games. He now leads the team with nine hits.
For manager Rob Thomson, it’s a good problem to have when a bench player performs at this level. Sosa filled in at shortstop for three games while Trea Turner dealt with a hip issue, then replaced Stott on Wednesday against a lefty—though that won’t be the case moving forward.
So, what’s the plan?
“I’m going to call MLB and see if we can play 10,” Thomson joked when asked about squeezing Sosa into Thursday’s lineup for the series finale.
It doesn’t hurt to ask, right?
Still, concerns linger about the lineup’s struggles against opposing starters. In the fifth inning, the Phillies loaded the bases with no outs in the heart of their order—only to watch Bryce Harper, Bohm, and Schwarber go down on three straight strikeouts.
But when a team is winning this consistently to start the season, problems like that can be set aside … for now.
