Bryce Harper still might have some lingering hard feelings toward the Philadelphia Phillies and team president Dave Dombrowski over offseason comments.
Harper addressed Dombrowski’s offseason remark about the first baseman not having an elite season in 2025 at spring training on Sunday. He said he was not drawing any motivation from the comments, but suggested that he was bothered by the comment being made publicly when he believed such things were to be kept in-house.
“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. When that didn’t happen, it kind of took me for a run a little bit.
“My numbers weren’t where they needed to be. I know that. And I don’t need to be motivated to be great in my career or anything else. That’s just not a motivating factor for me. For Dave to come out and say those things, it’s kind of wild.”
Bryce Harper on “not elite” shirt and Dave Dombrowski’s comments
— OnPattison (@OnPattison) February 15, 2026
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/9GgCf4WVyS
Harper made it quite clear during the offseason that he was bothered by Dombrowski’s comments. The Phillies president had said Harper’s 2025 season was not elite by his standards, and questioned whether the first baseman could post such numbers again.
Dombrowski was not necessarily wrong. Harper hit .261 with 27 home runs last season, which is good but not star-level production. Harper simply seems to have thought that did not need to be aired publicly, and would have liked to see the organization stick up for him.
