
""He's still a quality player. He's still an All-Star caliber player," Dombrowski said Thursday as he broke down the season. "He didn't have an elite season like he's had in the past. I guess we only find out if he becomes elite or he continues to be good.""
""Can he rise to the next level again? I don't really know that answer," Dombrowski said. "He's the one that will dictate that more than anything else. I don't think he's content with the year that he had. Again, it wasn't a bad year. But when I think of Bryce Harper, you think elite, you think of one of the top-10 players in baseball and I don't think it fit into that category.""
Bryce Harper, 33, experienced a measurable dip in offensive production, posting a .844 OPS and a .261 batting average—his lowest marks since 2016 and 2019 respectively. Phillies president Dave Dombrowski called Harper a quality, All-Star-caliber player but said the season did not reach the elite level Harper displayed earlier in his career, and questioned whether Harper will return to elite form with six years remaining on his 13-year, $330 million contract. Harper missed a month recovering from a wrist injury and managed a modest postseason showing, going 3-for-15 with no RBIs in the NLDS. Manager Rob Thomson noted Harper's defensive move to first base and his rapid return from Tommy John surgery.
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