In the aftermath of the Philadelphia Phillies' exit from the 2025 MLB playoffs at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team's president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, made a remark that irked Bryce Harper. Dombrowski said that Harper was no longer an elite player and he questioned whether or not Harper still had it in him to be the star he used to be.

At 33 years of age, the aging curve does not bode well for the Phillies star. But it looks like Harper has taken those comments to heart, priming him for a major bounce-back 2026 season. The early returns for the 33-year-old star in Spring Training are looking good. On Saturday, he went 1-2, with his lone hit being a cracker of a home run which he sent over the right field wall.

This is a continuation of his excellent Spring thus far; Jayson Stark of ESPN pointed out that Harper has put six balls in play during Spring Training and five of them left the bat at 94 miles per hour or faster. Of those six balls in play, three went for extra bases, with two of those being doubles.

Harper is seeing the ball well, and as one of the ambassadors of Team USA for the upcoming World Baseball Classic, he might be hitting his stride at exactly the right time.

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Phillies' Bryce Harper responds to doubt with ferocity

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) at bat during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field.
Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images.

The skepticism surrounding Harper's elite status wasn't too unfounded from Dombrowski, but he definitely did not have to say that in public. Nonetheless, Harper is showing, at least early on in Spring, that at 33, some of his best baseball may still be ahead of him.

If last season was a down year (he put up 27 home runs, 75 RBIs, and a total fWAR of 3.5), then it would be interesting to see what a bounce-back season from the Phillies star would look like.