After winning 95 games and the National League East last year, the Philadelphia Phillies brought back largely the same group of guys for 2025. Dave Dombrowski made only two major roster additions, trading for pitcher Jesús Luzardo and signing outfielder Max Kepler.

It’s a very small sample size, but both are looking like great moves after the opening weekend.

Luzardo was dominant in his first start with Philly, striking out 11 Washington Nationals hitters over five solid innings on Saturday. Luzardo had a poor, abbreviated season before being traded, but he was one of the top pitchers in the NL during 2023, striking out 208 batters in 178.2 innings. If he returns to that form this summer, the Philly rotation could very well be the best in baseball.

Then there’s Kepler, who didn’t waste any time sliding into his new role. Kepler reached base three times on Opening Day in D.C., then he had a three-hit game during Philly’s home opener on Monday, which included his first home run of the season.

Along with adding even more danger to the Philadelphia lineup, Kepler may finally solve their problem of being short of a dependable outfielder. He’s made the switch from right field – occupied by Nick Castellanos – over to left without any issues. His first homer in the red pinstripes got him a nice standing ovation when he took the field in the top of the 9th Monday – and if he’s also back to 2023 form, when he hit 24 for the Minnesota Twins, then a lot more cheers are on the way.

Neither guy was brought in to be a superstar – not when Philly’s already got so much money invested in Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, and Zack Wheeler. But they both fill roles that previous failures showed were wide open on this team. Dombrowski invested in these bounce-back candidates over big names, and while the book is still out on new reliever Jordan Romano, he may have come away with a clean offseason haul after all.