Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski chose an odd time to name-drop one of his star players last season. After the team’s October playoff departure, Dombrowski said two-time National League MVP first baseman Bryce Harper is no longer an elite player.
With spring training about to begin, Harper was asked by reporters what he thought of Dombrowski’s comments.
Harper kept his answers mostly professional, but also expressed some dissatisfaction.
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“To me, the whole situation that’s happened is kind of crazy,” Harper said.
“I think the biggest thing for me is when we first met the organization we said ‘Hey, we’re always going to keep things in-house and we want you to do the same.'” So when that didn’t happen, I kind of ran away. “
Harper also claimed that the “Not Elite” shirt he wore to batting practice on TikTok in December was not a statement against Dombrowski, but simply a shirt made for him. Harper claimed: “If they were to [the shirts] For me, I wear them. However, the timing seems odd considering Dombrowski has been claiming for the last month that he and Harper had cleared up the misunderstanding.
Harper is entering his age-33 season.
Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper watches the light show during the ninth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Citizens Bank Park.
Is Harper in trouble in 2025?
By Harper’s standards, absolutely.
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In 2025, Harper posted the second-lowest batting average (.261), lowest on-base percentage (.357) and lowest slugging percentage (.487) of his Phillies career.
Still, he posted a 129 OPS+, which is a high-end number by any standard. Additionally, his strikeout rate drops between 2024 (21.9%) and 2025 (20.9%), as does average exit velocity (91.3) and on-base percentage (12.3%).
When do the Phillies start spring training?
The Phillies will begin spring training on February 21 against the defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:07 p.m. ET.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bryce Harper finally speaks out on Dombrowski’s ‘no more elites’ comments
