Categories: Evergreen

Every Phillies Opening Day lineup since 2000

Andrew McCutchen homered on Opening Day 2019. (Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire)

As the Phillies prepare to open their 2024 campaign, take a look back at every Phillies Opening Day lineup since the turn of the century.

The 2024 group — exact configuration TBA — is strong. But is it the best? Here’s all its competition:

2000 – at Arizona Diamondbacks

Doug Glanville (CF)
Ron Gant (LF)
Scott Rolen (3B)
Mike Lieberthal (C)
Kevin Jordan (2B)
Rico Brogna (1B)
Kevin Sefcik (RF)
Desi Relaford (SS)
Andy Ashby (P)

This lineup went scoreless for the first five innings, and four late runs were too few, too late in a 6-4 loss to the Diamondbacks. Relaford had half the team’s six hits, including a homer, as he was the only Phillie to figure out Randy Johnson, who went 8 2/3 innings.

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2001 – at Florida Marlins

Doug Glanville (CF)
Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Bobby Abreu (RF)
Scott Rolen (3B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
Travis Lee (1B)
Mike Lieberthal (C)
Marlon Anderson (2B)
Omar Daal (P)

This 13-inning marathon saw Glanville come to the plate seven times — for three hits, a game-high, including a homer. Glanville also drove in the decisive run with a 13th-inning groundout for a 6-5 win.

2002 – at Atlanta Braves

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Doug Glanville (CF)
Bobby Abreu (RF)
Scott Rolen (3B)
Mike Lieberthal (C)
Travis Lee (1B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
Marlon Anderson (2B)
Robert Person (P)

The Phillies’ lineup was quiet in this one, mustering only five hits and two runs in a 7-2 loss to the Braves. A Lee homer and Anderson double knocked Tom Glavine out of the game in the seventh, but the Braves retired the next eight Phillies to seal the win.

2003 – at Florida Marlins

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Placido Polanco (2B)
Bobby Abreu (RF)
Jim Thome (1B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
David Bell (3B)
Mike Lieberthal (C)
Marlon Byrd (CF)
Kevin Millwood (P)

Rollins and Polanco combined to go 0-for-11 at the top of the lineup, but that didn’t stop the Phillies from scattering eight runs — all in the first four innings — and 10 hits against the Marlins. An 8-0 ballgame became interesting, but the Phillies held on to win 8-5 over that year’s eventual World Series champion Marlins.

2004 – at Pittsburgh Pirates

Marlon Byrd (CF)
Placido Polanco (2B)
Jim Thome (1B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
Bobby Abreu (RF)
Mike Lieberthal (C)
Jimmy Rollins (SS)
David Bell (3B)
Kevin Millwood (P)

Polanco (two) and Burrell (three) accounted for all but one of six hits for the Phillies, whose quiet night offensively resulted in a 2-1 loss to the Pirates.

2005 – vs. Washington Nationals

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Placido Polanco (2B)
Bobby Abreu (RF)
Jim Thome (1B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
Kenny Lofton (CF)
David Bell (3B)
Mike Lieberthal (C)
Jon Lieber (P)

This was the Phillies’ first Opening Day home game in the 2000s — and the first one at Citizens Bank Park, and Charlie Manuel’s Phillies managerial debut — and the offense honored the occasion. The Phils racked up eight runs on 14 hits, backing up a fine-not-great three-run, 10-hit start in 5 ⅔ innings for Lieber.

2006 – vs. St. Louis Cardinals

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Abraham Núñez (3B)
Bobby Abreu (RF)
Chase Utley (2B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Aaron Rowand (CF)
Mike Lieberthal (C)
Jon Lieber (P)

The first Opening Day lineup with all of Rollins, Utley and Howard compiled 14 hits but produced just five runs, not nearly enough in a 13-5 loss to that year’s eventual champion Cardinals. Lieber struggled mightily, allowing eight runs in 3 ⅓ innings.

2007 – vs. Atlanta Braves

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Shane Victorino (RF)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Chase Utley (2B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
Wes Helms (3B)
Aaron Rowand (CF)
Rod Barajas (C)
Brett Myers (P)

Each of the first seven hitters in the Phillies lineup recorded at least one hit and Myers allowed three runs in 7 2/3 innings — but a two-run homer in the 10th by Édgar Rentería gave the Braves a 5-3 victory.

2008 – vs. Washington Nationals

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Shane Victorino (CF)
Chase Utley (2B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Pat Burrell (LF)
Pedro Feliz (3B)
Jayson Werth (RF)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Brett Myers (P)

The Phillies’ 2008 championship campaign started off bleak, with the game entering the ninth tied at six before the Nationals erupted with a decisive five-run frame. Utley and Rollins homered, each leading the way with two knocks.

2009 – vs. Atlanta Braves

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Jayson Werth (RF)
Chase Utley (2B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Raúl Ibañez (LF)
Shane Victorino (CF)
Pedro Feliz (3B)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Brett Myers (P)

Braves starter Derek Lowe had his way on Opening Day, hurling eight shutout innings on just two hits. The Phillies scored a meaningless run in the ninth to avoid the shutout and lost 4-1.

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2010 – at Washington Nationals

Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Placido Polanco (3B)
Chase Utley (2B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Jayson Werth (RF)
Raúl Ibañez (LF)
Shane Victorino (CF)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Roy Halladay (P)

Led by a grand slam from Polanco (one of his three hits), a two-run shot by Howard and at least one hit from each starter one through nine, the Phillies exploded for 11 runs on 13 hits — but the story, still, was Halladay. He threw seven innings of one-run ball in his Phillies.

2011 – vs. Houston Astros

Shane Victorino (CF)
Placido Polanco (3B)
Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Raúl Ibañez (LF)
Ben Francisco (RF)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Wilson Valdez (2B)
Roy Halladay (P)

Halladay again pitched well on Opening Day (one run in six innings), but the story this time was the ninth inning. The Phillies scored three runs in the frame against Brandon Lyon, walking it off on a John Mayberry single to earn the victory after once facing a 4-0 deficit.

2012 – at Pittsburgh Pirates

Shane Victorino (CF)
Placido Polanco (3B)
Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Hunter Pence (RF)
Ty Wigginton (1B)
John Mayberry (LF)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Freddy Galvis (2B)
Roy Halladay (P)

Another Opening Day, another Roy Halladay gem. The righty stifled the Pirates’ offense for eight innings of shutout ball, allowing just two hits, and Jonathan Papelbon got the 1-2-3 save in his Phillies debut. Ruiz’s seventh-inning sacrifice fly scored the Phillies’ only run, but it was all they needed.

2013 – at Atlanta Braves

Ben Revere (CF)
Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Chase Utley (2B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Michael Young (3B)
Domonic Brown (LF)
John Mayberry (RF)
Erik Kratz (C)
Cole Hamels (P)

Hamels’ first of two Opening Day starts for the Phillies was relatively forgettable; he allowed five runs in five innings. Utley was a double shy of the cycle, but three Braves homers fueled an attack that was too much to overcome in a 7-5 loss.

2014 – at Texas Rangers

Ben Revere (CF)
Jimmy Rollins (SS)
Chase Utley (2B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Marlon Byrd (RF)
Domonic Brown (DH)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Cody Asche (3B)
Tony Gwynn Jr. (LF)

Three-hit games from Revere, Utley and Asche — and hits from every Phillies starter but Gwynn — charged a 17-hit, 14-run onslaught that made up for a rough outing by Lee in a 14-10 Phillies victory.

2015 – vs. Boston Red Sox

Ben Revere (LF)
Odúbel Herrera (CF)
Chase Utley (2B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Grady Sizemore (RF)
Code Asche (3B)
Freddy Galvis (SS)
Cole Hamels (P)

The 2015 Phillies lost 99 games — the franchise’s most in a season since 1969 — and Opening Day was a sign of things to come. The Phillies had three hits, and Cole Hamels and co. allowed five home runs in an 8-0 shellacking by the Red Sox.

2016 – at Cincinnati Reds

César Hernández (2B)
Odúbel Herrera (CF)
Maikel Franco (3B)
Ryan Howard (1B)
Carlos Ruiz (C)
Cedric Hunter (LF)
Peter Bourjos (RF)
Freddy Galvis (SS)
Jeremy Hellickson (P)

Hellickson allowed just one unearned run across six innings and a two-run home run by Galvis had the Phillies leading 2-1 in the eighth. But there, the wheels fell off, and the Reds plated five runs for a 6-2 Phillies loss.

2017 – at Cincinnati Reds

César Heráandez (2B)
Howie Kendrick (LF)
Odúbel Herrera (CF)
Maikel Franco (3B)
Michael Saunders (RF)
Tommy Joseph (1B)
Cameron Rupp (C)
Freddy Galvis (SS)
Jeremy Hellickson (P)

Hernández’s leadoff homer was perhaps the highlight of this game, and it was also the difference: Jeanmar Gómez let a 4-1 lead shrink to 4-3 in the ninth but kept the score there for a Phillies win.

2018 – at Atlanta Braves

César Hernández (2B)
Carlos Santana (1B)
Nick Williams (RF)
Rhys Hoskins (LF)
Aaron Altherr (CF)
J.P. Crawford (SS)
Maikel Franco (3B)
Andrew Knapp (C)
Aaron Nola (P)

This will forever be remembered as the game where Gabe Kapler pulled Aaron Nola with 68 pitches. At the time, the Phillies led 5-0 in the sixth, but it turned out to be an infamously disastrous managerial debut for Kapler — Hoby Milner immediately allowed a two-run homer, the Braves tied it in the eighth and Nick Markakis walked it off with a three-run shot off Héctor Neris in the ninth.

2019 – vs. Atlanta Braves

Andrew McCutchen (LF)
Jean Segura (SS)
Bryce Harper (RF)
Rhys Hoskins (1B)
J.T. Realmuto (C)
Odúbel Herrera (CF)
César Hernández (2B)
Maikel Franco (3B)
Aaron Nola (P)

Whereas 2018’s Opening Day was a disaster for the Phillies, 2019’s was the opposite. The new-look lineup, featuring new additions McCutchen, Segura, Harper and Realmuto, produced 10 runs — led by a memorable leadoff homer by McCutchen, a three-run dinger by Franco and a grand slam by Hoskins that busted it open in the seventh in front of a buzzing Citizens Bank Park crowd. Nola, in his second of what will soon be five straight Opening Day starts, allowed one run in six innings and was not pulled after 68 pitches. The Phillies went on to sweep the Braves.

2020 – vs. Miami Marlins

Andrew McCutchen (LF)
Rhys Hoskins (1B)
Bryce Harper (RF)
J.T. Realmuto (C)
Didi Gregorius (SS)
Jean Segura (3B)
Jay Bruce (DH)
Scott Kingery (2B)
Roman Quinn (CF)

A solo homer by Gregorius in his Phillies debut was about the only highlight in this one, as Aaron Nola (four runs, 5 1/3 innings) struggled, the offense didn’t help and the Phillies lost 5-2. It was a typical Phillies vs. Marlins game, but it stung perhaps even a little extra for the Phils due to the 60-game schedule.

2021 – vs. Atlanta Braves

Andrew McCutchen (LF)
Rhys Hoskins (1B)
Bryce Harper (RF)
J.T. Realmuto (C)
Alec Bohm (3B)
Didi Gregorius (SS)
Jean Segura (2B)
Adam Haseley (CF)
Aaron Nola (P)

Pablo Sandoval’s pinch-hit two-run homer (a common theme) in the seventh was a deflating cap to a solid outing by Nola, but Segura gave the Phillies the last laugh with a walk-off single in the 10th. The Phillies again swept the Braves to open the season, which is apparently a curse: Just like in 2019, the Braves won the division and the Phillies missed the playoffs.

2022 – vs. Oakland Athletics

Kyle Schwarber (LF)
J.T. Realmuto (C)
Bryce Harper (RF)
Nick Castellanos (DH)
Rhys Hoskins (1B)
Didi Gregorius (SS)
Jean Segura (2B)
Bryson Stott (3B)
Matt Vierling (CF)

P: Aaron Nola

Much like McCutchen in 2019, Schwarber made quite the first impression on his new fan base, launching a leadoff homer in his first at bat as a Phillie. A five-run lead was nearly erased when the A’s made it 6-5 in the seventh, but the Phillies tacked on three late runs for a 9-5 win. They won two of three from the dreadful A’s to open their pennant-winning season.

2023 – at Texas Rangers

Trea Turner (SS)
Kyle Schwarber (DH)
J.T. Realmuto (C)
Darick Hall (1B)
Nick Castellanos (RF)
Bryson Stott (2B)
Alec Bohm (3B)
Jake Cave (LF)
Brandon Marsh (CF)

P: Aaron Nola

The Phillies jumped out to a 4-0 lead against two-time NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, who was making his debut for the Rangers after signing a five-year/$185 million free-agent contract. However, Nola, Gregory Soto and Connor Brogdon combined to give up nine runs in the bottom of the fourth inning, as the eventual World Series Champions defeated the Phillies 11-7 on Opening Day.