Phillies yet again shift start times for all home games at Citizens Bank Park in 2025

The Philadelphia Phillies revealed a new start times for home games at Citizens Bank Park in 2025 – moving the current 6:40 p.m. first pitch back five minutes to 6:45 p.m.

The Phillies have been tinkering with their start times over the past couple of seasons, shifting away from the traditional 7:05 p.m. first pitch.

In 2022, they moved Monday-Thursday games in April, May, and September to 6:45 p.m., and by 2023, they dropped all evening games to a 6:40 p.m. start.

I never really understood shifting the start times to 6:40 p.m. to begin with – even more so after Major League Baseball implemented the pitch clock which caused all games to finish significantly faster.

On a 2025 schedule magnet giveaway handed out to Phillies fans in attendance for their NL East clinching win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday night, Matt Gelb of The Athletic pointed out a change in the start times, with games shifting from the 6:40 p.m. start time to a now 6:45 p.m. start time.

Does a five minute update really change anything? Probably not but I would have to assume there’s a method to the madness somewhere, right?

Phillies 2025 Schedule: 6:40 p.m. home starts are shifting to 6:45 p.m.

One small change for 2025: All of the 6:40 p.m. home starts are shifting to 6:45 p.m. https://t.co/ABMejQVDv5

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) September 25, 2024

The start time should be 7:05 p.m. – giving fans plenty of time to attend the games at Citizens Bank Park or be given a great opportunity to get home from work, have dinner, and sit down with the family to watch some baseball.

Again, with the pitch clock in play, 7:05 p.m. start times are still wrapping up no later than 10:00 p.m. so it’s really a non-issue for kids or anyone to watch a full game.

In my humble opinion, if you’re a kid and your parents are making you go to sleep on a school night before 10 p.m. that’s a family issue – not an issue with Major League Baseball.

Let’s be real though—TV ratings and the ability to sell advertisements in an earlier time slot probably play a huge role in the decision.

The shift to 6:45 seems to hit the sweet spot for the Phillies’ broadcast partners, making it more convenient for the TV audience to tune in without staying up too late.

Whether you’re at the park or on the couch, it looks like 6:45 is here to stay for now.

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