PHILADELPHIA — Have we already seen the best from Bryce Harper? Maybe. Is there still plenty left in the tank? The Phillies think so.
Manager Rob Thomson said Harper will be highly motivated to have the best year of his career next year. Harper, who turned 33 on Thursday, batted .261 with 27 homers, 75 RBIs and an .844 OPS this season. It was his lowest OPS since 2016 (.814) and his lowest OPS+ (129) since 2019 (126).
He had a wrist issue that affected him early, but the Phillies insist he finished the season healthy.
“He’s still a quality player,” Phillies president Dave Dombrowski said. “He’s still an All-Star caliber player. He didn’t have an elite season like he has had in the past. And I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good. If you look around the league, I think … Freddie Freeman. He’s a really good player, right? He still is a good player. Is he elite like he was before? Probably not to the same extent. Freddie is a tremendous player, and that to me is Bryce. Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know that answer. He’s the one that will dictate that more than anything else.
“I don’t think he’s content with the year that he had. And again, it wasn’t a bad year. But when you think of Bryce Harper, you think of elite, right? You think of one of the top 10 players in baseball, and I don’t think it fit into that category. But again, a very good player. I’ve seen guys at his age – again, he’s not old – that level off. Or I’ve seen guys rise again.”
Dombrowski said there are no plans to ask Harper to return to the outfield, if they have an opportunity to acquire a big bat in the infield. It’s something Harper said he’d be willing to do, but on a short-term, one-year basis.
