This wasn’t the smartest thing to say about the Phillies’ face.
The Philadelphia Phillies did not win the World Series in 2025. The club had high hopes after reaching the World Series in 2022, but they failed to return.
The organization is devoted to bringing a championship back to the City of Brotherly Love, owing in large part to an owner who is determined to win. The core group hasn’t done its job, and 2025 may have been their last chance, with several important players ready to hit free agency and others rumored to be traded.
The Phillies will play a competitive club as long as Bryce Harper is under contract, but his best years may be behind him.
Did Dave Dombrowski question Bryce Harper’s elite status?
According to MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski didn’t hold back when it came to discussing the franchise’s face during his end-of-season press conference Thursday.
“He’s still a quality player,” Dombrowski said of Harper after his down year, according to Zolecki. “He remains an All-Star caliber player. He did not have an excellent season, as he has in the past. And I guess we’ll find out if he becomes exceptional or continues to be good.”
Harper posted a.261 batting average in 2025, his lowest since the 2019 season, after hitting.294 during the previous four seasons, during which he was named to two All-Star games and the 2021 NL MVP. The Phillies’ first baseman concluded the season with 27 home runs, 75 RBIs, and an OPS of.844.
Harper’s playoff performance wasn’t much better, as he hit.200 with one extra-base hit and no RBIs in the NLDS loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was unusual given that he had hit.325 during the previous three postseason, including being awarded the 2022 NLCS MVP.
“Can he rise to the next level again?” Dombrowski, per Zolecki, questioned Harper’s elite rank. “I don’t really know the answer. He will dictate that more than anything else.”
Harper has been in the spotlight since he was a youngster, and the Washington Nationals selected him first overall in the 2010 MLB Draft. He is a two-time MVP, eight-time All-Star, four-time Silver Slugger, and the 2012 National League Rookie of the Year.
Despite being a generational talent and eventual Hall of Famer, Dombrowski is doubtful of Harper’s potential as one of baseball’s best players. Harper is under contract until 2031 and turned 33 on Thursday, which makes Dombrowski’s comments regarding his star player even more problematic.
Harper did not enjoy the season that the baseball world has come to expect from him, but there is no reason to believe he cannot recover. Hopefully, Dombrowski’s comments put a fire under Harper and prevent any unnecessary drama in the future.