CLEARWATER, Fla. — Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper remarked on Sunday that it still feels “kind of wild” to him that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski indicated back in October that the two-time National League MVP might no longer be considered an elite player.
Harper mentioned that Dombrowski’s comments didn’t serve as motivation for him, expressing confusion over why Dombrowski felt the need to publicly assess Harper’s season and postseason performance.
“I don’t get motivated by that kind of stuff. For me, the whole situation was kind of wild,” Harper told reporters. “The main point when I first joined this organization was to keep things in-house, and we expected the same from each other. So when that didn’t happen, it threw me for a loop a bit, I guess. It’s all part of it, I suppose. Just a wild situation.”
Harper’s .844 OPS last season marked his lowest since 2016, and his .261 batting average was his poorest since 2019. At 33, he has six seasons remaining on his 13-year, $330 million contract. In the 2025 regular season, he hit 27 home runs and drove in 75 runs, but struggled in the Phillies’ four-game defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL Division Series, going 3-for-15 with no RBIs.
Dombrowski acknowledged that while it was a good season, it fell short of Harper’s MVP caliber performances from 2015 with the Washington Nationals and 2021 with the Phillies.
“Can he get back to that next level? I’m not sure,” Dombrowski commented after last season. “He will be the one to dictate that more than anything else. I don’t think he’s satisfied with what he achieved. It wasn’t a bad year by any means, but when I think of Bryce Harper, I think elite, one of the top 10 players in baseball, and I don’t think it fell into that category.”
A wrist injury sidelined Harper for a month, but he conceded that his output didn’t meet his own expectations.
“Clearly, I didn’t have the year I desired,” Harper acknowledged. “My postseason performance was also lacking. I know my numbers weren’t what they should have been, but I don’t need external motivation to excel in my career. So, Dave’s comments still feel kind of wild to me.”
Taking into account the time lost due to his wrist injury, his production last season didn’t represent a significant drop from his 2024 season, where he finished sixth in the NL MVP voting, hitting .285 with 30 home runs and 87 RBIs while earning his fourth Silver Slugger Award and making his eighth All-Star team.
Over 14 seasons in the majors, including seven with the Phillies, Harper boasts a .280 batting average and 363 home runs.
