Will Bryce Harper return to ‘elite’ status for Phillies? ‘I don’t really know that answer,’ says Dave Dombrowski

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies could use more out of Bryce Harper next year after a relatively down season in 2025. Their president of baseball operations isn’t guaranteeing it.

Harper, a two-time National League MVP who just finished the seventh season of a 13-year contract in Philadelphia, hit 27 home runs with an .844 OPS in 132 games. His OPS ranked sixth among qualified first basemen, but it was his lowest in a Phillies uniform. He was a productive player when he was on the field, just not a superstar.

Can Harper get back to his MVP-type ways? Veteran executive Dave Dombrowski said he wasn’t quite sure at the Phillies’ end-of-season news conference on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

“In Bryce’s case, of course he’s still a quality player,” Dombrowski said. “He’s still an All-Star-caliber player. He didn’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.”

Harper, who turned 33 on Thursday, is an eight-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, former Rookie of the Year and 2022 NL Championship Series MVP after hitting the go-ahead home run in the game that sent the Phillies to the World Series. He is one of the most decorated, most recognizable, most impactful players in recent memory. He was drafted with the No. 1 overall pick in 2010 at age 17, hit the ground running for the Washington Nationals two years later and lived up to the hype that followed him.

Since signing with the Phillies in 2019, Harper has a .912 OPS, good for seventh in the major leagues in that span. He has a 1.090 OPS in the postseason for Philadelphia, even after hitting just .200 in the 2025 NL Division Series. But after a relatively disappointing year for Harper’s standards, it’s fair to wonder if the full-on heroics are a thing of the past. Players and teams do have to account for aging, especially on a lengthy contract like Harper’s. But it would certainly be a boost for the Phillies if Harper can bounce back to the form that everyone is used to.

Dombrowski put the onus on Harper to do so.

“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.”

Dombrowski compared Harper to Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman when trying to come up with an example of an elite hitter who’s settled into being simply an All-Star. But Freeman, at three years older than Harper, still had an OPS that was 25 points higher while playing 15 more games. The performance just wasn’t up to the standard that Harper has set.

“I don’t think he’s content with the year that he had,” Dombrowski said. “And again, it wasn’t a bad year. But when I think of Bryce Harper, you’re thinking elite, right? You’re thinking one of the top-10 players in baseball, and I don’t think it fit into that category. But again, very good player.”

Phillies manager Rob Thomson noted that Harper’s homer total would’ve looked a lot nicer had he played in 25 or 30 more games, but the reality is that he did miss time due to injury, and his durability is a concern. But Dombrowski reiterated that Harper’s wrist was not an issue by the end of the year and that he’s “100%” healthy.

After shifting positions in 2023 in the aftermath of his Tommy John surgery, Harper is now a first baseman and not a right fielder. First base is a power position that has a little extra emphasis on offense. Although Harper has expressed his willingness to go back to the outfield if it meant that Philadelphia could add a difference-making player at first, the team views him as its first baseman.

A stronger version of Harper in 2026 could make the whole lineup look a lot better, and Thomson thinks it could be coming. The manager believes Harper will put in the work in the offseason that will allow him to play as well as ever in his 15th year.

“I think he’s highly motivated to have the best season in his career next year,” Thomson said. “That’s what the plan is going to be for him.”

On the other hand, Dombrowski — the man tasked with putting the roster together with four key players hitting free agency in Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto, Ranger Suárez and Harrison Bader — said he has “no idea” if Harper can find his usual top-of-the-league form.

“I have seen guys at his age — again, not that he’s old — level off,” Dombrowski said, “or I’ve seen guys rise again. We’ll see what happens.”