It’s been four months since Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski publicly questioned if star outfielder Bryce Harper was still an elite player on the heels of a down season.
Harper still can’t believe the comments were made.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday from the Phillies’ spring training site in Clearwater, Fla., Harper addressed Dombrowski’s comments and made it clear that the remarks didn’t have the effect the Phillies executive may have been hoping they would have.
“Not really. I don’t get motivated by that kind of stuff,” Harper said. “For me, it was kind of wild, the whole situation of that happening. I think the big thing for me was when we first met with this organization it was, ‘Hey, we’re always going to keep things in house and we expect you to do the same thing.’
“And so when that didn’t happen, kind of took me for a run a little bit. So I don’t know. It’s part of it, I guess. It was kind of a wild situation.”
On the heels of Philadelphia’s exit in the National League Division Series—and a year that saw Harper post the lowest OPS of his career since 2016—Dombrowski openly wondered if the two-time National League MVP could return to elite form.
“He's still a quality player. He's still an All-Star-caliber player," Dombrowski said at the time. "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.”
Harper responded by donning a ‘Not Elite’ shirt
A month after telling The Athletic that he was hurt by the comments, Harper offered a more subtle response to Dombrowski’s words. Harper, while in the midst of a winter workout, donned a shirt with the words ‘Not Elite’ on it, seemingly a direct reaction to the Phillies executive’s quote.
Bryce Harper posted a video on TikTok hitting in a shirt that says “NOT ELITE” https://t.co/ShlwxDFoK8 pic.twitter.com/yKxYRrsCKt
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) December 27, 2025
Harper seemed to downplay the shirt on Sunday.
“I mean, they made the shirts for me and I wore them,” the Phillies star said. “If they’re going to make them, I’m going to wear them.”
Why Harper could have a bigger year in 2026
In 2025, Harper saw the second-fewest pitches in the strike zone of any MLB hitter, according to FanGraphs. While there’s evidence to suggest that pitchers pitched around Harper and took their chances with what was behind him, Harper also didn’t do himself any favors. The Phillies slugger posted the fifth-highest swinging strike rate in the majors.
Harper hit third in the Phillies lineup in 117 out of 132 games this past season. Philadelphia’s cleanup hitters posted just a .720 OPS, good for 20th in MLB. The likes of third baseman Alec Bohm, an All-Star in 2024, or slugger Kyle Schwarber, fresh off of belting 56 homers this past year, are candidates to slot behind Harper in the Phillies’ batting order.
Harper also missed 22 games in the summer due to inflammation in his right wrist. With better health, protection in the lineup, and a better approach at the plate, there’s reason to believe Harper can bounce back in a big way.
“Chasing pitches or chasing stuff out of the zone, missing pitches over the plate,” Harper said. “I talk to you guys about [it] all the time. I take all those things and obviously, try to work on those things and understand what you need to do in the offseason and in spring training and things like that.
“So hopefully [I] see a couple more pitches in the zone this year. Not really sure if that’s going to happen. But hopefully it does and I can be better.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bryce Harper Still Can’t Believe Dave Dombrowski’s ‘Wild’ Public Comments .
