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The Philadelphia Phillies start the defense of their National League East title when they visit the Washington Nationals on Thursday.

The Phillies outdistanced the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets by six games for the division title last season — finishing 95-67 — but lost a division series to the Mets 3-1.

Washington, meanwhile, continues its rebuild since its 2019 World Series team was dismantled. The Nationals finished 71-91 for the second straight season in 2024.

Philadelphia ace right-hander Zack Wheeler (16-7, 2.57 ERA in 2024) opposes left-hander MacKenzie Gore (10-12, 3.90) in the opener.

The Phillies return the lineup that produced MLB’s fifth-best batting average a year ago (.257) and produced 198 home runs (seventh) and 784 runs (fifth).

What will be different this year is the batting order. Manager Rob Thomson will likely switch things up depending on the opposing starter, according to The Athletic. Against Gore, Trea Turner will probably lead off, followed by Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber.

When the Phillies face a righty, it will go Schwarber, Turner, Harper, Bohm.

“How guys adjust to it, that’s a big question,” Thomson said. “Because I know that guys like being in the same spot every day for the most part. It’s just hard to do that every day. We want to figure out if we can maximize our offense.”

What the Phillies hope doesn’t change is the performance of the 34-year-old Wheeler. In five seasons with the Phillies, Wheeler is 59-32 with a 2.94 ERA. He will be making his second consecutive Opening Day start.

“He’s a stud, man,” said Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola, who started six consecutive Opening Days from 2018-23. “His track record shows it. I’ll say it again, I think he’s the best in the league.”

Against the Nationals, Wheeler is 14-15 over his career with a 4.45 ERA, though in 2024 he was 2-0 with a 2.29 ERA in three starts.

Seeing Harper and Turner on Opening Day will remind Nationals fans of what used to be. Though Harper was not on the 2019 World Series winners, he was the face of team that enjoyed a lot of success in the 2010s.

No team in baseball has lost more games since 2019. According to the Washington Post, no World Series champion has followed its title with a worse five-year winning percentage than the Nationals’ .407 since the 1914-18 Philadelphia Athletics (.386).

However, the team now features a talented young core including James Wood in left field and Dylan Crews in right, CJ Abrams at shortstop, Keibert Ruiz at catcher and Gore and others in the rotation that will eventually be boosted by the return of Josiah Gray.

The goal is a return to meaningful September baseball.

“That’s part of what our plan is,” Rizzo told the Post. “I never put expectations on a win total or anything like that. But we’ve got the team to play better. We’ve got, I think, the mix to play better. And I think the expectation is way higher than even we think.”

Gore started strong last season, then struggled in the middle before allowing two earned runs or fewer in each of his final seven starts. That included six shutout innings against Philadelphia in his final outing of the year.

“You know, first part of last year, unbelievable,” manager Dave Martinez said. “Didn’t go so well in the middle. At the end, he was unbelievable. So, if we can get him consistent, he’s going to be one of the top pitchers in the league.”

Gore went 1-1 with a 3.42 ERA in four 2024 starts against the Phillies.

–Field Level Media