After a second straight year of regular season success and playoff disappointment, the Philadelphia Phillies are returning with essentially the same roster in place for another try.
The team’s biggest offseason moves were to reunite with designated hitter Kyle Schwarber and everyday catcher JT Realmuto. But that doesn’t mean the team arrived at this point in the winter without any controversy.
Shortly after the season ended, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski was asked about franchise slugger Bryce Harper’s campaign and his response turned some heads.
“He didn’t have an elite season like he has in the past,” Dombrowski said, as relayed by MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki. “Can he rise to the next level again? I don’t really know that answer. He’s the one that will dictate that more than anything else.”
Philadelphia Phillies, Star Bryce Harper Suffer Spat
Following that statement, Dombrowski attempted to walk some of the criticism back. Then Harper spoke out about how the resulting trade talk hurt his feelings and posted a video of himself on social media in a shirt that read “NOT ELITE.”
But Dombrowski’s original point, that Harper seemed to have lost a step in his last campaign, will stand unless the slugger can emphatically defy it at the plate next year. And, in the meantime, it seems like the Phillies want to move him out of the lineup spot he has held for most of his career.
“I’ve got to talk to the players about it, but you could see a change this year, flipping those guys around a little bit,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said earlier this week, per The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Marcus Hayes.
And when asked if those changes would involve moving Harper out of the third spot in the lineup, Thomson confirmed that he is indeed interested in seeing the face of the franchise moved.
Philadelphia Phillies Preparing To Move Bryce Harper In Lineup After Down Season
The lineup order between Schwarber and Harper is an important matter for the Phillies, as the pair represents their two most productive sluggers. And the one who hits after the other will be seen as “protection” for his teammate — opposing pitchers will be more likely to throw hittable offerings to a batter who is coming up right before a slugging threat, as they won’t want to serve up a walk.
While Harper has traditionally served as the protection for Schwarber, the team might want to switch things around to give Harper more of an opportunity to return to his elite status.
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