One of the most dramatic storylines of the Phillies’ 2025 offseason came out of Dave Dombrowski’s end-of-year press conference, when he dubbed first baseman Bryce Harper’s season “not elite."
A comment that seemingly rubbed Harper the wrong way for much of the offseason, the pair found common ground later in the 2026 season after Harper made a similar comment about Dombrowski’s performance as the team’s showrunner.
Now, one season and one early postseason exit later, it is time to check back in on Harper.
Two weeks after the Atlanta Braves eliminated the Phillies from postseason contention, Dombrowski returned to the media room at Citizens Bank Park, ready to greet reporters for the 2026 public post-mortem. Metro Philadelphia’s own Kyle Fisher was in attendance.
While Harper appeared to get the brunt of Dombrowski’s public criticism in 2025, it was Trea Turner at the center of attention this year. Dombrowski detailed how the two had met a few days prior to the press conference. During the meeting, Dombrowski told Turner in no uncertain terms that “he has to be better at shortstop” or else he will not be at shortstop in 2027.
Harper meanwhile received some praise. Dombrowski went on to describe how Harper and Kyle Schwarber were the only two above-average hitters for the Phillies in 2026.
Harper ended the season with a .269/.380/.485 slash line. His .865 OPS marked him 12th in all of baseball. His patience at the plate rewarded him with 107 walks, the most in the National League. Factor in Harper’s 29 home runs and it was a strong year for the first baseman.
Strong, not elite.
Strong hitting can be one aspect of an elite player, but that would have to come with elite defense as well. Harper has done a good job at acclimating to first base, the position the Phillies envision him playing moving forward, but Harper has yet to become a strong defensive first baseman.
Visually, he has yet to develop the first baseman’s instinct for when to field a grounder in the first-second base gap and when to cover the bag. There have been points where batters have legged out infield singles because Harper went for the ball when he should have covered the bag.
Statistically, Harper’s defensive runs saved sat right at zero for 2026. His outs above average? -5.
Let’s bring this back to a tangible level for a second. Bryce Harper was paid $27.5 million for the 2026 season per Baseball Reference. That is a higher paycheck than any individual player on the National League champion Milwaukee Brewers or the American League champion Tampa Bay Rays. Christian Yelich is the closest, earning $26 million for the Brewers.
The truth is, while Harper might have put in an above-average season, he is getting paid for elite production. Eight years into Harper’s tenure in Philadelphia, the city has yet to regain the World Series trophy.
Until such a time as the team becomes world champions, we are left with statistics and dollar figures to determine if a player is elite. In 2026, Harper was above-average, not elite.
Perhaps 2027 will feature the return of the MVP-caliber player we all know is still inside Harper.
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