The Philadelphia Phillies will be the second seed in the National League after securing their spot in the 2025 MLB postseason.
The Phillies will start their postseason run in the National League Division Series after receiving a first-round bye.
A discussion about whether the first-round bye is a benefit or a drawback for teams has started as a result of the success of wild card teams in recent years. Trea Turner, the great shortstop for the Phillies, made a strong statement regarding the first-round bye discussion following Sunday’s regular season finale.
Trea Turner Sends Blunt Message
Their performance has soared since the MLB altered the wild card format in 2022 to allow three wild card clubs to qualify for the playoffs. Five wild card teams have advanced to the championship series or higher in the past three years.
The New York Mets advanced to the NLCS in 2024 as the sixth seed. The San Diego Padres and Phillies were wild card teams that faced off in the NLCS in 2022, and the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers were both wild card teams that advanced to the World Series in 2023.
All of this raises the question of whether receiving a first-round bye is truly advantageous. The team does, in fact, take a few days off to recuperate, rest, and get ready for the Division Series.
As the Phillies prepare for another postseason run, there’s been plenty of chatter about whether having a first-round bye is truly an advantage. On paper, extra rest should help. But in reality, a team that just fought its way through the Wild Card round might ride that momentum into the next series, while the team waiting could come out flat or rusty. Baseball, especially in October, often comes down to who’s hottest at the right time, and that dynamic has become a big talking point.
When reporters asked Trea Turner about it on Sunday, he didn’t hold back.
“I’ll say it until I’m blue in the face it’s just an excuse one way or another. You’ve got to show up, you’ve got to win,” Turner said. “I think Houston’s had a bye for however many years and they’ve gone on to the Championship Series for however many years. So, you either win or you don’t.”
Turner wasn’t part of the Phillies’ magical 2022 run when they stormed from a Wild Card berth all the way to the World Series. By the time he arrived in Philadelphia the following year, he experienced the flip side: a quick exit in 2024 despite the team owning a first-round bye. That perspective has given him a sharp understanding of just how small the margin for error is once October baseball begins.
For Turner, the message is simple: don’t get caught up in the bye-week debate. What matters is execution, play by play, pitch by pitch. And in Philadelphia, expectations are sky high for this postseason.
The Phillies’ October journey begins Saturday, Oct. 4, when they’ll take on the winner of the Los Angeles Dodgers–Cincinnati Reds Wild Card series.