Section 1: Phillies Question Bryce Harper’s Greatness

The Philadelphia Phillies organization has made statements over the past six months indicating they believe Bryce Harper is on the decline.On October 17 2025, President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski was asked during his season ending press conference about his thoughts on Harper’s season. Dave Dombrowski stated that Harper had an all star caliber season but it was not elite.

These comments irritated Harper who spoke to the Athletic eight days after the press conference and said he was disappointed.

“It’s disappointing to hear me being questioned about my contribution to the team,” Harper told The Athletic. “Just really hurt by that notion because I love Philly so much.

Harper hasn’t gotten over the comments made by Dave Dombrowski as he once again expressed his displeasure five months later. On February 15 2026, he told the media the comments were wild to hear.

“Obviously, I didn’t have the year that I wanted,” Harper said. “Obviously, I don’t have a postseason I wanted. 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. So that’s just not a motivating factor for me. For Dave Dombrowski to come out and say those things, it’s kind of wild to me still.

Section 2: The Real Question — How Does Harper Respond?

Although Harper’s frustration is understandable, the question is how can he show the Philadelphia Phillies organization that he is not on the decline yet?

Well, the answer is making a change to his batting stance. Bryce Harper has publicly stated that he frequently changes his swing. On August 3 2025, he told Driveline that his swing changes from game to game:

“I think for me it’s I have more clubs in the bag,” Harper said. “There are times when I do a toe tap, times where I do a leg kick, and times where I do a two-strike approach. So, I have those clubs in my bag, right? Just like a golfer has a seven iron, or a pitching wedge, or a driver. I am one of the ones in the game who changes their swing a lot from one day to another.” 

Harper’s habit led to dramatic changes during the 2025 season, as he decided to stand farther from the plate and significantly open his stance. 

1. Harper decided to stand deeper in the batters box . According to Baseball Savant , he was standing 23.6 inches deep inside the batters box . Harper’s 2025 depth was 0.6 inches deeper than the 2023 and 2024 seasons .
2. Bryce was standing farther off the plate . According to Baseball Savant , he stood 29.5 inches off the plate during the 2025 season . This was 0.6 inches farther than the 2023 and 2024 seasons .
3. Harper decided to significantly open up his stance during the 2025 season . According to Baseball Savant , Harper’s stance angle was 16 degrees . It was 4 degrees wider than the 2023 and 2024 season .

Section 3: How His Stance Changes Hurt His Production

Although Harper didn’t explain why he made these specific changes, presumably the changes would give him more time to hit pitches in the inside part of the zone. However, Harper has rarely been targeted on the inside of the zone. In 2024, he saw only 283 pitches in the inner half of the strike zone, 11.5% of the total pitches he faced.

The frequency of inside pitches remained low in 2025, with Harper seeing 217 such pitches (10% of total). His adjustment was unnecessary and affected his performance elsewhere in the zone.

Opposing teams threw 363 pitches on the outer half of the strike zone during the 2025 season, 16.7% of their total pitches . Bryce Harper hit 250 with 5 home runs. The batting average on the outer half of the strike zone was a 16.7% decrease from 2024.

He hit 300 with 5 home runs. The stance change also led to an increase in the chase rate statistics. In 2025, he chased 35.6% of pitches, up 2.1% from 2024.

Section 4: The Statistical Decline Is Real — But Fixable

All of these statistics led to a decrease in overall production.  In 2025, he hit 261 with 27 home runs and 75 RBI with an 844 OPS. He also had 70 walks and 121 strikeouts.

However in the two previous seasons, he hit 289 with an average of 26 home runs and 80 RBI with an 899 OPS. Secondly, Bryce Harper was able to increase his walks as He average of 80 walks.

Section 5: The One Adjustment That Could Led To Harper’s Bound Back

Consequently I recommend that Harper stand closer to the plate and close up his stance . This is because it would allow him to make better swing decisions on balls outside of his zone. Improve plate discipline will force opposing teams to make a decision to walk Harper or give him better pitches to hit.