May 4, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper (3) reacts after hitting a flying out to center during the tenth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Eric Hartline
Bryce Harper donned an Allen Iverson shirt for his postgame media scrum after the Phillies lost 11-9 to the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday afternoon.
It's fair to say that even after a game where he homered and reached base three times, Harper is still looking for the answer to what's plagued him at the plate recently.
"Yeah, I mean, I'm just frustrated on a bigger level," Harper said. "[I] just wanna come through for the team and play well. Obviously I've been through ruts in my career, gone through ups and downs worse than what I'm on right now. But just frustrated for the fans, frustrated for my team."
For as good of a day as Harper had in a vacuum, he walked away disappointed largely due to the flyout he had to center field against Jalen Beeks with one out in the 10th inning and a pair of runners on base.
"Even that last moment right there against Beeks, just not coming through, just super frustrated for that," Harper said. "Just wanna play better, gotta play better ... take better at-bats and all that kinda stuff. Just gotta be a better ballplayer."
Something about Bryce Harper rainy day home runs in the cream uniforms on Sunday… pic.twitter.com/iXq1p9KUv2
Is there something specific that Harper doesn't feel is going his way right now?
"I don't know," Harper said.
As recently as last homestand, it looked like Harper was going to go on a tear. He homered three times in four games against the San Francisco Giants and Miami Marlins. It prompted us to ask at the time whether he could set a new high watermark for home runs in a season as a Phillie, with his current being the 35 he hit in 2019.
But Sunday's first-inning home run to the opposite field was the first Harper has hit since that mini-hot streak. Between April 19 and May 3, Harper went 9-for-51 (.176) with just four extra-base hits and 12 strikeouts. It was particularly noticeable on a team that hasn't generated a ton of power outside of Kyle Schwarber until Max Kepler's recent hot streak.
So what is it that Harper needs to see change to feel like he's in a better place?
"It's just swinging at pitches out of the zone," Harper said. "It's like Shelby [Miller] right there in the ninth inning. I swung at two pitches out of the zone. So I just gotta cut down on that."
Bryce Harper discusses his frustration with his recent offensive results.
(Via @TimKellySports) pic.twitter.com/ds7zC0SK1Q
Most players would view Sunday's game as a major step in the right direction. Harper isn't most players. He knows he's held to an incredibly high standard externally, but stretches like this remind you that the person who puts the most pressure on No. 3 is Harper himself.
"Yeah, I mean obviously I'm not where I want to be," Harper acknowledged. "Like I said, I've gone through stretches like this in my career, it's gonna happen. I'll come back out of it and be totally fine.
"But it's just a frustrating moment not being able to come through and realizing I gotta be better for my teammates and the fans. They expect that, this organization expects that. So I think I hold myself to a really high standard and my teammates do as well, and everybody else. So I just, I gotta be better."
