Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper has expressed his desires for the MLB trade deadline.
The Philadelphia Phillies rebounded from a brutal 9-19 start to place themselves smack dab in the middle of the National League playoff race, but it's still abundantly clear that they have some major holes to fill.
The offense is a mess. The starting rotation is sorely lacking depth. The bullpen has been a significant problem, and it is now without Brad Keller for the season.
Fortunately, the Phillies can upgrade their roster before the MLB trade deadline, and first baseman Bryce Harper was asked about the situation before Monday night's loss to the Miami Marlins.
“I have no idea what [president of baseball operations Dave] Dombrowski is thinking,” Harper said, via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. “I haven't talked to him. I mean, it's his job. It's not my job. It's my job to go out and play and do my job. And, obviously, the last month, I haven't done my job to the best of my ability.”
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper. Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images.Harper slugged a two-run home run on Monday evening, but he is hitting just .160 with a .617 OPS in the month of July. While he has been far from the only culprit in Philadelphia's offensive woes, he certainly hasn't helped.
The Phillies are expected to add a bat — preferably in the outfield — before Aug. 3, and Harper made it clear that the team's needs are very obvious.
“Organizationally, I haven't talked to anybody about it,” Harper added. “So I don't know. I mean, I think everybody knows kind of what we need, right? I mean everybody in here knows what we want. Everybody in baseball kind of knows what we need. So there's players out there that are available and I think we have a good opportunity to go get the guys we need. If that's bullpen, if that's in our lineup, if that's a starting pitcher. You guys know what our five spot's looked like all year.”
Harper arrived in Philly back in 2019. Philadelphia missed the playoffs in each of his first three seasons with the club, but now has a streak of four straight postseason appearances.
So, what do the Phillies have to do to punch their fifth consecutive ticket to October? Harper isn't getting involved with that, but he sent a pretty strong message to the front office regarding the pennant race.
“Just get us in,” Harper said. “I think that's a big deal, too. Hopefully, we have the pieces to do it.”
In other words, "get us some help."
