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Phillies hope for bounceback season from Bryce Harper in 2026

Harper answered questions in the corner of the visitor’s clubhouse last week at Dodger Stadium following the Phillies†stunning loss to the Dodgers in Game 4 of the NL Division Series, discussing his teamâ€s latest postseason failures before he turned his attention to 2026.

“I want to hold that trophy,†Harper said. “Thatâ€s the goal every single time you get into Spring Training. … I know, on a personal level, Iâ€m going to work my butt off this offseason again and get ready for next year and obviously, hopefully, take another swing at it and see what we can do.â€

But what version of Harper will the Phillies get? Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski wondered on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

“Heâ€s still a quality player,†said Dombrowski. “Heâ€s still an All-Star-caliber player. He didnâ€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: Heâ€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 donâ€t really know that answer. Heâ€s the one that will dictate that more than anything else.

“I donâ€t think heâ€s content with the year that he had. And again, it wasnâ€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 donâ€t think it fit into that category. But again, a very good player. Iâ€ve seen guys at his age — again, heâ€s not old — that level off. Or Iâ€ve seen guys rise again.â€

It sounded like a challenge in many regards. Maybe it was.

Harper, who turned 33 on Thursday, batted .261 with 27 homers, 75 RBIs and an .844 OPS this year. It was his lowest OPS since 2016 (.814) and his lowest OPS+ (129) since 2019 (126).

But Harperâ€s .844 OPS still ranked 22nd out of 145 qualified players in baseball. His expected metrics were mostly better than 2024, when he batted .285 with 30 homers, 87 RBIs and an .898 OPS.

Harper saw pitches in the zone only 43 percent of time, the fewest out of 532 players (minimum 200 pitches).

The MLB average is 50.7 percent.

Itâ€s nothing new. Harper has the seventh-lowest zone rate (42.1 percent) out of 772 hitters to see at least 5,000 pitches in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008). Only Vladimir Guerrero Sr., Pablo Sandoval, Prince Fielder, Josh Hamilton, David Ortiz and Ryan Howard have seen fewer.

Now, Harperâ€s chase rate (35.6 percent) was just a tick below his career-worst rate in 2022 (35.7 percent). It was 33.4 percent in each of the previous two seasons.

Perhaps he can make an adjustment there.

Regardless, Harper is headed to the Hall of Fame one day, whether he is “elite†again or just “very good†like Freeman. But Harper would love nothing more than to have “World Series champion†engraved on his bronze plaque.

He wants to finish his career with the Phillies, too. Next year will be the eighth of a 13-year, $330 million contract. Harperâ€s agent Scott Boras and the Phillies have discussed a contract extension in recent years. It was believed it would happen eventually. Who knows where that stands today?

“I think heâ€s highly motivated to have the best season of his career next year,†Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Thursday. “Thatâ€s what the plan is going to be for him. He played in 132 games, and he hit 27 home runs. Itâ€s pretty good. You add on another 30 games or 25 games or whatever, the numbers look pretty good. Yeah, I mean, it was down a little bit, but over an .840 OPS or something like that, yeah, thatâ€s pretty good.â€

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