Phillies’ Bryce Harper Offers Response On Cutting Ties With Homegrown Slugger

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - MAY 06: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on in the dugout before a game against the Athletics at Citizens Bank Park on May 06, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) Getty Images The Philadelphia Phillies have posted one of the best records in all of baseball since making a big change. Earlier this season, the team parted ways with long-time manager Rob Thomson and appointed bench coach and New York Yankees legend Don Mattingly as his interim replacement.

That seemed to spark something in the group, as it rattled off six straight series wins in the immediate aftermath. FORBES | By Peter Chawaga Tigers’ Tarik Skubal Sends Dodgers Warning After $182 Million Loss Philadelphia Phillies’ Bryce Harper Feels Bad About Replacing Team’s Former Homegrown Slugger But even though the Phillies have fielded the same core of veteran stars — including Bryce Harper, Trea Turner, Zack Wheeler and others — for several years now, they have made some significant changes to the team before Mattingly’s promotion. For instance, Thomson was a mid-season manager replacement himself, stepping into the role after the team fired Joe Girardi.

And the team also cut ties with homegrown slugger Rhys Hoskins after a significant knee injury before the 2023 season. Hoskins, who was drafted by the Phillies in 2014, was the team’s first baseman for six seasons before that injury. But the team opted not to re-sign him when he returned in 2024.

Instead, Harper moved to first base and the Phillies moved on. But with Hoskins facing the Phillies once again, now as a member of the Cleveland Guardians, Harper sent a regretful response on that decision. “I think about Rhyser all the time,” Harper told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Scott Lauber.