February 27, 2026
Baseball is back — and so are most of the Phillies.
After a dominating 96-win season in 2025 and a devastating early exit to the eventual World Series champions, the Dodgers, the championship window is still open for the Phils, but for how long?
The Phillies will enter 2026 with the fifth best World Series odds (+1500, via FanDuel). Expectations are still high, as is the level of talent in the clubhouse.
Sticking to their organizational mentality that keeping the window open requires keeping the core together — while also opening up some space for an infusion of young talent — a largely familiar group will be returning to comprise the 26-man roster when camp breaks in March.
As we do every preseason, here's a deep dive into each position on the roster and its outlook heading toward Opening Day. Today, we'll look at lead-off hitter and shortstop Trea Turner.
Trea Turner took over the leadoff spot last season on a mission to get on base early and often, at the request of the club.
He delivered.
Turner hit .304 to win the NL batting title. He had an .812 OPS, stole 36 bases, and scored 94 runs with Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper hitting behind him. Plus, he still had some pop with 15 homers, 31 doubles, and seven triples.
In a lot of ways, Turner finally settled in as the fully realized star shortstop that the Phillies signed to an 11-year, $300 million mega deal going on four years ago.
He did have a bad playoff series against the Dodgers, slashing just .235/.316/.235 in the NLDS loss to the Dodgers. Granted, so did Harper, Schwarber (outside of a game), and the majority of the Phillies' lineup.
So they're trying to move on from October heartbreak again, and still looking for a way to push beyond it.
But by all accounts, Turner should still be their .300-hitting level table setter that all clubs want at the top of their lineup.
He'll be another year older approaching age 33, for sure, and among a club that is notably getting up there in years, but heading into 2026, Turner's bat is still there, and so is his speed along the base paths and in the field.
Shortstop really shouldn't be anything the Phillies have to worry about in 2026.
Turner is their guy.
Turner also exists within probably the most impactful infield spot in the NL East.
Here's a look at how Turner compares to the rest of the division's shortstops through last year's slash lines (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging percentage), WAR (wins above replacement), and 2026 projections:
| Player, Club | 2025 slash line | 2026 proj. | 2025 WAR (Gms) |
| Trea Turner, PHI | .304/.355/.457 | .282/.333/.446 | 5.4 (141) |
| Francisco Lindor, NYM | .267/.346/.466 | .262/.338/.470 | 5.9 (160) |
| Mauricio Dubón, ATL | .241/.289/.355 | .259/.301/.378 | 1.7 (133) |
| Otto Lopez, MIA | .246/.305/.368 | .257/.314/.387 | 3.5 (143) |
| CJ Abrams, WSH | .257/.315/.433 | .256/.318/.439 | 3.4 (144) |
Turner and Lindor are the two clear stars of the show here, which seems fitting given that the division title is likely to be a fight between the Phillies and Mets.
Dubón joins the Braves after a winter trade with Houston, coming in as the AL's utility Gold Glover, who now looks to have an everyday spot.
Lopez brings a solid glove to the Marlins, too, and Abrams is a notable name on the Nationals, who was an All-Star in 2024 and could just be hitting the prime of his career at 25.
The NL East carries an interesting and pretty versatile group of shortstops.
Edmundo Sosa is there as the Phillies' prime utility man, and will no doubt be filling in for Turner at short on occasion.
Top infield prospect Aidan Miller is a listed shorstop, and may just be a few steps away from the majors. But right now, if there's an opening for him anywhere, the likelihood is that it will be at third base.
Further down the prospect pipeline is Bryan Rincon, a 22-year-old switch hitter, who slashed an underwhelming .181/.304./.298 for High-A Jersey Shore last year. Rincon, a 14th-round draft pick from 2022, was the 17th-ranked prospect in the Phillies' system for 2025, per MLB Pipeline.
But really, shortstop in Philadelphia belongs to Turner for the present and foreseeable future. There are still eight years left on that contract.
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