Was it a good year for Bryce Harper in 2025?
Was it a bad year?
Was it a weird year?
Whatever it was, it sure felt like something was off altogether with Bryce Harper all season, like he was just going through
the motions as the season progressed. Was he injured? Was he healthy? Was he feeling the effects of all the offseason health food he was making? Who can say!
2025 stats:
132 G, 580 PA, .261/.357/.487, 27 HR, 75 RBI, 20.9 K%, 12.1 BB%, 131 wRC+, 3.5 fWAR
What went right:
Those are some solid numbers. Regardless of not being able to reach the much prettier thresholds of 30 HR/100 RBI, Harper was still a solid and productive middle of the order bat. His wRC+ was still 25th best in the game, tied with Fernando Tatis, Jr.
Power is down still, overall hitting is as hard as it has ever been. Having the kind of line that Harper had is still a great player. Maybe it’s thanks to the expectations that have followed him since arriving in Philadelphia that it feels like it was a disappointing season, but even if it was, he was still very good. He’s producing at the plate, he’s one of the best fielding first baseman in the game and he even added 12 stolen bases to boot.
What went wrong:
It just felt like Harper was going through the motions of being a professional baseball player.
Some of the trends that one does not wish to see happen to a player are happening with Harper. He’s starting to chase more and more when he’s at the plate.
Harper has always been aggressive at the plate, so this isn’t really surprising. What is a bit surprising is that when Harper is getting pitches in the middle of the plate, he’s not producing as much as one would like.
Compare that with what he did last year.
Again, this isn’t a huge cause of concern if we factor in the injury issues he had last year, but if there weren’t injuries that were hampering him, then this could be an issue. If he’s not doing as well on pitches in the middle of the zone, what’s the next step?
The future with the Phillies:
The postseason press conference at which Dave Dombrowski seemed to wonder if Harper’s best days were behind him was an odd sign post in the offseason. The president of baseball operations doesn’t usually say something of that kind of magnitude unless there is a purpose for it, yet we don’t know what that purpose is. Whatever reason he had for talking about Harper, there was at least a kernel of truth behind it.
It’s complete possible that this kind of season is the new norm for him. This is what we should be expecting from here on out. It may not be what we were expecting, but it really is still a productive player. We aren’t sure to what extent his wrist was bothering him, hindering his swing and the way he goes about each plate appearance. We aren’t sure how much having very little lineup protection behind him, perhaps influencing how much he feels he needs to produce in each plate appearance (yes, I am aware of the data behind lineup protection; I believe players believe in it).
Can we expect a better season for him in 2026? Of course we can. Should we expect a better season? As he continue to age, that type of question can be harder to answer. He’ll be closely watched in 2026, so we’ll have an answer soon.
