Aug 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Harrison Bader (2) against the Seattle Mariners at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
NEW YORK - Harrison Bader is a bit of a throwback.
With the flowing locks of hair, the cropped T-shirt, and the more form-fitting baseball pants, Bader has a look that would fit in perfectly on Macho Row in the 1993 Phillies clubhouse.
Pete Alonso and Harrison Bader catch up at Citi Field pic.twitter.com/DkICczOgqn
But it's not just his look.
"I like the presence he has," manager Rob Thomson said. "He's got a little bit of a swagger."
It's not that the Phillies didn't already have guys like that, they did. But Bader's energy is a little more bad ass. A little more in your face.
And it's brought a bit of an energy to the Phillies that wasn't there before he was acquired at the trade deadline last month.
Harrison Bader, Welcome to Philadelphia! 🔔 pic.twitter.com/BO56VUQYqF
Since Bader and former Minnesota Twins teammate Jhoan Duran arrived in separate trades at the deadline, the Phillies are 15-7. They have built a seven-game lead in the NL East. Their offense started to come to life last week and has been mostly consistent since.
This isn't all attributable to Bader and Duran. Sure, Duran has changed the look and feel of the Phillies bullpen. Adding a legitimate closer can do that for a team. But Bader struggled through his first 14 games with the Phillies. He started 11 of them, but his numbers were disappointing - he was just 7 for 41 (.171) and had a .539 OPS.
But then Thomson talked about using a four-man rotation against righthanders, and ramping up Bader's usage a little bit, cutting into Nick Castellanos' playing time.
In his last three starts, Bader is 6 for 10 (.600) with a pair of walks.
The combination of getting comfortable with a new team and getting an uptick in playing time has probably helped.
Well...
"Maybe," Bader said. "I try to just take the straightest line possible to what's going to help me be effective on a baseball field. If you want to overanalyze certain aspects of it, maybe there's some of that involved, but at the end of the day, if I'm penciled in the lineup or if I come late into a game, there is an expectation to help the team win.
"The more you just live in that dome of trying to be a winning baseball player, I think good things happen."
Bader said his nine years of experience in the majors have helped him take that more straight-line approach.
"I just try to shed all the emotions and keep it super simple," he said. "It gets easier as time goes on. I've been around for a while and gone through stretches of my career, whether individually or on different teams, and you learn to shave off the unnecessary time and the spinning that might be involved in trying to get back on track.
"The more experience you have in failing and then working right back toward that happy medium line, the easier it becomes."
Bader said he's a guy that likes to analyze video and different game situations and reflect on those to help him make decisions going forward.
And Thomson is seeing that from him and he's impressed, even if it's at the cost of a guy like Castellanos who is used to playing every day.
"I'm trying to mix and match and keep everybody in rhythm and keep them going," Thomson said. "It's difficult to match people up, but so far, so good. I think Bader is doing a great job. I really like him."
Thomson even praised his defense in centerfield. calling it "great" and saying that even though he doesn't have the speed of Johan Rojas, his jump, anticipation and routes to baseballs are elite, which makes him special defensively.
Harrison Bader made this home run robbery look so casual! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/rTMvhvDOXY
So this mad scientist routine Thomson has been practicing with the outfield has been working - mostly.
Castellanos is 9-for-24 (.375) in his last six starts while Max Kepler is 12-for-35 (.343) in his last nine starts.
The one guy who has scuffled a bit lately is Brandon Marsh.
Since having a four-hit night in Texas on August 8 that raised his average to a season-high .278, Marsh is mired in a 6-for-41 slump (.146) with only one extra base hit (a double) and one RBI in his past 15 games (10 starts). He's also struck out 15 times and walked just twice in that span.
"He's had a little bit of bad luck, but he said to me today that he's really going to focus on [hitting the ball to] left-center," Thomson said. "So, at least he's aware of what's going on. He's got to get it fixed."
And if not, then, maybe the next time there's a righty on the mound, the outfield will be Kepler-Bader-Castellanos.
And the carousel continues to go around with some horses up and some horses down.
It's just seeming like the one with the cropped T-shirt is going to be in the up position a bit more going forward.
