PHILADELPHIA — Had Jake Burger caught a routine popup in foul territory Saturday evening, this weekend would have somehow looked even worse for the Phillies’ lineup. Burger should have sealed the 27th out in a Texas Rangers shutout; the four runs the Phillies scored afterward made it look respectable.
But the Phillies were no-hit for the first 4 2/3 innings of Saturday’s game, then followed it with five hitless innings to begin Sunday’s game. They finished this season-opening, three-game series with 18 hits and a .186 batting average. That marks the Phillies’ worst three-game start since 2015.
“Everybody wants to get off to a good start,” Trea Turner said, “but sometimes it doesn’t happen.”
Turner, atop the lineup, had a forgettable weekend that came after a forgettable spring training in which he went 6-for-45 with a .486 OPS. He had two singles in 13 at-bats against the Rangers. He hit into two double plays in Sunday’s game; it was only the third time he’s done that and the first time since 2021.
Turner said he was “happy” about the bad spring. “Because the best spring I’ve ever had is the worst I ever played,” he said. This was obviously on his mind. He did the research sometime near the end of spring training.
Trea Turner reacts after striking out in the fifth inning of Saturday’s 5-4 loss. (Kyle Ross / Imagn Images)
Every nine innings is not some sort of referendum on these Phillies, but it’ll be treated as such because the expectations are so high and the narratives so entrenched. It’s an older roster. A bad weekend must be the sign that everything is hanging over a cliff.
That’ll be the prevailing public sentiment until the Phillies hit a few more homers. There were boos for everyone, especially Bryce Harper. He’s been booed here before. Maybe it was louder this weekend. Maybe not.
“We got to get something going earlier in the games, obviously,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “I think everybody in the lineup is trying to get off to a good start. Maybe a little bit anxious. They’ll settle in.”
Sunday’s game was all but decided by the time Texas summoned righty reliever Carter Baumler, a Rule 5 draft pick who could not throw strikes. The Phillies drew four walks in two innings against him. It’s a small thing, but two of the worst at-bats of the weekend might have come during those innings.
J.T. Realmuto and Brandon Marsh began the seventh with back-to-back walks. Justin Crawford swung at the first two pitches, both borderline ones, and later struck out. In the eighth, after back-to-back walks by Harper and Alec Bohm, Adolis García saw one pitch in the zone. He struck out because he chased two wayward curveballs.
“That’s going to happen at times,” Thomson said after an 8-3 loss. “But we did have eight walks today. So the discipline’s been pretty good. At times you’re just trying to do a little bit too much. So just pass the baton and move along.”
Live and die by the dinger
The Phillies out-homered Texas, 2-1, on Opening Day. They won. Then the Rangers hit two homers Saturday and two homers Sunday to produce eight runs. The Phillies have gone 22 innings without a homer. That was the difference in the series.
It’s not as though Aaron Nola and Jesús Luzardo pitched poorly; both, in fact, featured strong stuff. They combined to strike out 14 and walk three. That is a winning formula.
Other than the homers.
Each starter surrendered two. Luzardo did not allow his second home run in 2025 until his eighth start. After Sunday’s outing, he noted how he had permitted just one left-on-left homer on his sweeping slider last season. He was right. Luzardo threw 341 sweepers to lefties, who hit .154 with a .231 slugging percentage against the pitch. The lone home run? Shohei Ohtani on Sept. 17, 2025.
Jesús Luzardo allowed six runs on Sunday, five of which came on the two home runs he yielded. (Eric Hartline / Imagn Images)
“We got 159 games left, so it’s not the end of the world,” Luzardo said. “But, obviously, some adjustments that need to be made. The stuff was probably the best it’s been all year, even throughout spring. So I’m healthy. I feel great. Just got to do a better job of keeping the ball in the yard.”
The Phillies out-homered their opponents, 122-95, at Citizens Bank Park last season. Those 122 homers at home were the most the Phillies have had in a season since 2019. They hope, for one weekend, this was a blip.
Quick hitters
• A day after making a run-saving catch in right field, García lost a ball in the sun that resulted in another earned run on Luzardo’s record.
Adolis Garcia with a 4-star grab on this play, just a 30% catch probability.
No 4 or 5-star grabs for the Phils RF in all of 2025, got one in the first series of 2026. This just would have been a routine single last year. pic.twitter.com/RWy4f5I0yY
— The WARmonger (@TheWARmonger_) March 29, 2026
The play in left field on Sunday was more concerning. Otto Kemp misplayed two balls that went off the wall and almost overran another that he caught with his outstretched glove over his head. Kemp is an infielder who is playing the outfield because the Phillies want him to be Marsh’s platoon partner.
It’s a work in progress, to be kind.
Kemp’s last mistake cost the Phillies a run when he chose not to play the ball off the wall and it skipped past him. Kemp spent a ton of time during spring training in left field, but he is still learning the nuances.
“He’s getting better and better, you know?” Thomson said. “Today was the first game in a while he’s been out in the field.”
Kemp will be back in left field Monday night against the Washington Nationals. This is something to monitor, especially if Bryan De La Cruz hits at Triple A.
• It was not a great weekend for the lower-leverage relievers. Kyle Backhus had a nightmarish Opening Day, then walked the leadoff batter Sunday in what was a scoreless inning. Zach Pop threw 46 pitches in two outings and only 23 of them were strikes.
The counter: Brad Keller, José Alvarado, Jonathan Bowlan and Tanner Banks all had decent innings during the opening series.
• The Phillies know this much: They won’t see MacKenzie Gore again in 2026 unless it’s in the World Series. Gore, who departed the division via an offseason trade from Washington to Texas, has a 3.06 ERA in 47 innings against the Phillies since 2024.
• Harper has one hit in his first 11 at-bats. It’s only the second time in his career he’s started a season with just one hit in his first three games. The other: 2022 with the Phillies, and that went just fine.
“Obviously, not the start we wanted to have,” Harper said. “But we’ll get there.”
