Bryce Harper had the worst season of his career in 2025. He had an injury and just did not put the same type of production on the field that he had in the past. He is entering his 8th season as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies and what will be his 15th season in Major League Baseball. This will also officially mean he has spent more time as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies than the Washington Nationals. Despite this incredible number of years, he is still only entering his age 33 season. For context, this is a year younger than baseball’s best player, Aaron Judge, who is entering his age-34 season. Harper has been incredible, and just because it is his fifteenth year doesn’t mean he is old. He has at least three very good years left in his baseball career and another half dozen with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Bryce Harper’s career average per 162 games played is 33 Home Runs, 95 Runs Batted in, and a .280 batting average. This is not far off from his numbers in 2025, where he only played 132 games. Harper missed a month of baseball and was very close to his career numbers, and the word on the street is that Bryce Harper is washed up. I am here to tell you that Bryce Harper has another 40 home run season and a near .300 batting average, and tops in MVP contention again. Last season, Bryce Harper batted .261 with 27 Home Runs and 75 RBI. He complemented those with a still great.357 On Base Percentage as well as an .844 OPS. These are numbers slightly off from his career stats. You can interpret them in a few ways. One way is that the player is slightly declining, and that we should expect a slow decline as he enters his mid 30s. Or, he was injured, and he did not come back in a successful way or representative of his ability. I will take the latter.Â
Harper’s numbers on Baseball Savant are beautiful. There is red all across the board. His expected batting average and slugging percentage were not far off from his actual statistics; these numbers can come up. His chase and whiff percentage have always been a struggle, except for a 2021 change in approach, but his walk numbers are still extremely high, with a 12.1%. The only real concern for me is his constant lowering of his wOBA. This is precipitously dropping year over year, and it does give me some level of concern. Other than that, I think everything else can be a positive bounce-back for the once young superstar.
The two-time Most Valuable Player in the National League has a lot of help around him, and his bash brother Kyle Schwarber signed a long-term contract with the Philadelphia Phillies this offseason. He has been protecting Schwarber for the last four seasons, and depending on the lineup strategy for that day, Schwarber will be doing the same for Harper. I think that Harper deserves more protection at times. I think the Phillies would benefit from putting Schwarber behind Harper more often. This would give Harper the protection to drive in Trea Turner and whoever else was on base at the bottom of that Phillies lineup, perhaps, Justin Crawford.
The Phillies are hoping for bounce-backs from Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, and free agent acquisition Adolis Garcia. These three players all have the potential to back up Harper in a big way, but ultimately, it will be up to Harper. If I had to place a bet, I would not place that bet on Harper’s number continuing to decline; I would place it on a resurgent 2026 season. Make sure that you watch this first-ballot Hall of Famer closely, because he is one of a kind and will bounce back in 2026. The gold glover and MVP will establish himself as a top first baseman, and his power numbers, along with average, will rise this season, reminding everyone who he is.
