Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies are off to the National League Division Series after swiftly taking care of business against the Miami Marlins in the Wild Card series. Now, the Phillies are, once again, off to try and vanquish the NL East powerhouse they've looked up to in the standings for the past two seasons in the Atlanta Braves, which should be a scary notion for any team since the Braves finished the 2023 season with the best record in the entire league.

Nevertheless, Harper, of all people, knows not to shrink from the moment; he, after all, has had to deal with so much hype ever since he was a youngster. Thus, following their 7-1 win over the Marlins, the Phillies first baseman welcomed the challenge of heading into Truist Park with the intention of pulling off another upset.

“We know we're a really good team and we've just got to continue to do that. It's going to be an electric series and we can't wait,” Harper told reporters amid the Phillies' celebrations, per ESPN.

Bryce Harper and the Phillies will know that they will be playing with house money; after all, they finished a full 14 games behind the Braves in the NL East. Meanwhile, the Braves will have all the pressure in the world to continue their league-leading play into the postseason, which is easier said than done given the crapshoot that is the MLB playoffs.

And for the Phillies, they have a bunch of positive omens they can hold onto to instill confidence in them that they could, indeed, pull off a repeat of what happened in the 2022 NLDS. Last year, the Phillies finished 14 games behind the Braves as well (101 wins for Atlanta, 87 for Philadelphia), and they also swept their matchup in the Wild Card series (they finished the St. Louis Cardinals in two games). So perhaps the stars are aligning once more in the Phillies' favor.

Nevertheless, this Braves team isn't the same as last year. Now, Atlanta will have Ronald Acuna Jr. playing the best baseball of his life, which will be difficult for the Phillies to overcome. But like Bryce Harper said, it's going to be an electric series that could go either way.