Don’t look now, but the Philadelphia Phillies are turning fans into believers. They have won four out of the last five games, including two games in a row at Wrigley field, absolutely destroying the Chicago Cubs. They have scored 28 runs on 27 hits, with eight home runs in the last two games. A lot of credit goes to none other than Bryce Harper, who had five hits last night and drove in four runs, as the Phillies beat the Cubs 15-10.

After the game last night, Harper spoke to the media. He did not make the All-Star team for the first time since 2018. The six-time All-Star had this to say to the media.

For those who can’t turn the sound on out of fear your place of work will find out you’re reading Phillies posts instead of crunching numbers, here are a few quotes from Bryce’s video above.

“Of course, you always want to be an All-Star and when you’re not there, it sucks.”

“I probably wouldn’t have went anyway, I wanted to enjoy my family. Really, I’ve been dealing with my back, I’ve been dealing with my shoulder, things like that, so I probably would have taken a break from it and enjoyed my family and took some down time.”

After being asked to confirm that he would have declined the All-Star invite, Harper said “this year, yeah.” It makes sense. Harper has been battling injuries and the Phillies are underperforming through the first half of the year. Harper needs to lock in and remain healthy. I love that he went and publicly said it too.

On the season, Harper is slashing .282/.386/.914 with 15 home runs and 30 RBI. Last night, he was able to raise his batting average by 15 points and also hit his first non-solo home run of the year on a three run shot in the seventh.

The Phillies are one game below the .500 mark and will send their ace in Zack Wheeler to the mound at Wrigley. They have two games left against the Clubs before closing out the first half of the season with three games against Boston. From there, everyone outside of JT Realmuto and Zack Wheeler will get some rest and look to continue the momentum in the second half of the season, with Red October hopes in full effect.

Mandatory Credit: The Philadelphia Phillies