Dave Dombrowski wondered if Bryce Harper will be an elite player again. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
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Did Dave Dombrowski just chuck some shade at Bryce Harper? Probably not intentionally but it’s coming off that way.
Dombrowski, the Phillies president of baseball operations, was giving his annual end-of-season presser on Thursday when Harper’s 2025 performance came up. “He’s still a quality player. He’s still an All-Star caliber player,” Dombrowski said. “He didn’t have an elite season like he’s had in the past. I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good.”
This past season, Harper’s .844 OPS was his lowest since 2016 and his .261 average was his worst since 2019. It should be noted that Harper battled a wrist injury that impacted his production for a stretch and landed him on the IL for 23 days.
Dombrowski pondered whether Harper, who turned 33 on Thursday, can return to form as “The Showman” — one of baseball’s elite players — with six years remaining on his 13-year, $330 million deal.
“Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know that answer,” Dombrowski said. “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. Again, it wasn’t a bad year. But when I think of Bryce Harper, you think elite, you think of one of the top-10 players in baseball and I don’t think it fit into that category.”
Dombrowski pointed to Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman as an example of a player who’s “probably not to the same extent” the same elite version he once was but still highly productive. Freeman hit .295 with a .869 OPS with 24 homers and 90 RBI this past season.
Harper, a two-time MVP, made All-Star Games in two of the last four seasons and finished sixth in the voting for National League MVP in 2024 while becoming a Gold-Glove-caliber first baseman after shifting from the outfield following a Tommy John surgery in November 2022.
However, Harper stumbled in this year’s postseason — a time of year that he had routinely dominated in the past. He batted just .200 average with no RBI against the Dodgers, who beat the Phillies in a four-game NLDS.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who also spoke on Thursday, said Harper’s down year doesn’t mean his best years are behind him.
“I think he’s highly motivated to have the best season of his career next year,” Thomson said. “What I’d like to see is just him be himself, try not to do too much… Really focus on hitting the ball the other way. When he stays on the ball, he is such a great hitter. I think he just gets in the mindset that he tries to do a little too much because he knows that he’s Bryce Harper.”