Phillies Skipper Says Bryce Harper Has Been Better Teammate This Year When Struggling

Bryce Harper is handling his struggles much better this year according to Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson.

May 1, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper (3) during as time out during the seventh inning against the Washington Nationals at Citizens Bank Park | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

It feels like the Philadelphia Phillies are on the cusp of becoming the team everyone expected them to be entering the season, but something is just missing.

That something is likely Bryce Harper.

The two-time NL MVP hasn't had a bad start to the year with an OPS+ that's 19 points above the league average, but his slash line of .234/.364/.422 is much lower than he's produced in the past while his six home runs and 17 RBI have been below his normal pace.

For those concerned about Harper, the underlying metrics suggest a breakout is coming.

His exit velocity is right around where he was when he won the 2021 NL MVP and is similar to what he's done the past few years. His hard hit percentage of 49.5% is the highest it's been since 2021. And he's hitting the ball in the air more often than he ever has in his career while also hitting ground balls at the lowest rate since the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.

Harper is going to start mashing again, it's only a matter of time.

But when he's not hitting, that's when the Phillies have had issues in the past, with much of the offensive dominance coming when their superstar is red-hot at the plate.

That's why it's a good sign Philadelphia has been starting to put up some numbers on offense even with Harper struggling at the moment, suggesting things could really take off at some point in the near future.

Perhaps that has something to do with Harper himself.

Rob Thomson discussed the struggles of the future Hall of Famer with Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer, and he had an interesting thing to say about the attitude of Harper this year during his struggles compared to what's taken place before.

"His expectations of himself are higher than anybody else. And he knows how important he is to the ballclub and to the city and the franchise. So, he wears it. He really does. That's who he is. But I can tell you this, he's handled it a lot better than he has in the past," the skipper said.

In what way?

"Just staying calm. Being a really good teammate," Thomson added.

That's interesting to hear.

Harper become a great clubhouse guy and leader in his later years, so it's not like he's causing everyone to walk on eggshells around him. But it's also easy to tell when he's frustrated, and that can cause some others react differently than how they normally would.

Whatever Harper has been doing differently this year seems to be helping, because the Phillies have been able to win games and put up some offensive numbers recently without him dominating.

Hopefully that doesn't last long and his breakout comes soon.

Once that's the case, Philadelphia should start to roll.