Bryce Harper reignites Dave Dombrowski tension by wearing a “Not Elite” shirt in the batting cage

Bryce Harper is not letting the “not elite” conversation die quietly and honestly? Good.

Just a few months ago, Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski publicly questioned whether Harper still has another elite season in him.

It was a line that landed like a punch in the gut for Harper, who hit .261 with an .844 OPS, 27 home runs, and 75 RBI in 132 games, all while battling wrist inflammation that kept him out for nearly a month.

Now, we have the franchise cornerstone popped up on TikTok taking swings in the cage while wearing a shirt that reads: “Not Elite.”

There are only so many ways to interpret that.

Maybe Harper is still annoyed. Maybe he and Dombrowski are on joking terms now and this is tongue-in-cheek. Maybe he is leaning into the criticism as motivation. Or maybe it is all of the above. Either way, Harper very intentionally dragged that conversation back into the public eye, and it does not feel accidental.

Again… good.

Bryce Harper rocking a NOT ELITE t-shirt

@3ryceharper

Eastside in my blood🥱

♬ Eastside – benny blanco & Halsey & Khalid

If you are the Phillies, this is exactly what you want. A pissed-off Bryce Harper in the cages, using perceived disrespect as fuel, is not a problem. It is a feature.

Dombrowski should be thrilled. He was the one who opened the door by publicly wondering if Harper could still be elite. If this is the response he gets, that is a win.

To rewind for a second, Dombrowski’s comments back in November were blunt. He said Harper was still a very good player and still All-Star caliber, but not elite in 2025.

He openly questioned whether Harper could get back to that top-tier level again. Harper later admitted those comments hurt, and Dombrowski said they spoke privately and cleared the air.

That was supposed to be the end of it.

Apparently not.

Here is the thing though. Dombrowski was not entirely wrong. Bryce Harper did not have an elite season by his own standards. Injuries played a role, sure, but the production was not peak Bryce and that is probably why the comments stuck.

The truth usually stings the most.

Harper does need to be better. That is not controversial. He knows it. The team knows it. If this shirt is his way of flipping the narrative into motivation, then everyone should be on board because context matters.

Through his age-32 season, Bryce Harper’s career numbers look like this:

• .280/.387/.518 slash line
• .905 OPS
• 142 OPS+
• 363 home runs

I do apologize, there was a tweet about this and now I can’t find it. A fellow Phillies fan pulled numbers comparing what Bryce Harper has done until age 32 to Mike Schmidt. It was pretty interesting and obviously relevant given the fact that they are both Phillies players, so I went ahead and pulled the numbers again so we could all have a look.

Bryce Harper compared to Mike Schmidt through his age-32 season:

• .265/.382/.536 slash line
• .918 OPS
• 150 OPS+
• 349 home runs

Mike Schmidt from ages 33 to 37:

.278/.387/.537 slash line
.925 OPS
151 OPS+
181 home runs

Point being, Bryce Harper is not some declining star hanging on. He is right in line with the greatest player in franchise history at the same point in his career. If anything, history suggests the back half of Harper’s prime is still very much on the table.

Here’s something else that was interesting from the video:

Share your thoughts! pic.twitter.com/BqJhooDJIk

— Chez Angeloni (@ChezWhizzz) December 27, 2025

Two swings, two pitch locations, two noticeably different looks.

On an inside pitch, Harper shows more loft and lift. On a middle-away pitch, the swing stays flatter with a more direct path.

The second clip also shows a calmer gather. Less violence. More control.

Does it matter? No idea. Is it pitch location? Probably.

Is it something mechanical or intentional? Maybe.

Maybe it is just noise but when you combine that with a “Not Elite” shirt and a franchise star clearly feeling something, it is at least worth noting.

Regardless, Bryce Harper heard the noise.

He did not like it. And instead of hiding from it, he leaned directly into it. That is not a bad thing. That is exactly how superstars tend to respond.

If this leads to an angry, locked-in Bryce Harper next season, then Dave Dombrowski may have accidentally pushed the exact right button.

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