After the Philadelphia Phillies were eliminated by the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card Series, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski clarified the club’s plans for Bryce Harper heading into 2027.
Harper will return to full-time duty at first base, a role he held for most of the regular season before a midseason adjustment shifted him into the outfield.
The decision comes after Harper and Dombrowski met for several hours in recent days.
Harper, who turns 34 this week, has indicated he remains open to occasional starts in right field or at designated hitter if the roster construction requires it.
Those options are designed to give him more structured rest while keeping his bat in the lineup.
Dombrowski has stressed that the organization wants to manage the workloads of its veteran core more carefully next season, and Harper’s positional flexibility is part of that approach.
Kyle Schwarber figures into the plan as well. The longtime designated hitter is open to taking additional reps at first base and is expected to work there from the start of spring training.
Dombrowski has estimated that Schwarber could handle the position in roughly 30 games, which would allow Harper to serve as the designated hitter on those days without removing either slugger’s production from the order.
The arrangement is intended to keep both players fresher over the course of a long season rather than force either into an everyday defensive role.
Harper opened 2026 as the Phillies’ primary first baseman. That changed after the team acquired Luis Arraez at the trade deadline, which prompted a series of infield adjustments.
Bryson Stott moved to third base, Alec Bohm saw more time at first, and Harper shifted to right field for stretches of the second half. He had not played the outfield regularly since earlier in his career, and the transition produced mixed results on both sides of the ball.
Over 162 games, Harper posted a .269/.380/.485 slash line with 29 home runs and 87 RBI, finishing with a 135 wRC+ and 3.3 fWAR. Defensively, he recorded 0 Defensive Runs Saved and -5 Outs Above Average across 923⅔ innings at first base.
In right field, he was below average as well, posting -5 DRS and -3 OAA in 363⅔ innings. In the Wild Card Series against Atlanta he went 3-for-13 with a home run and a double before the Phillies’ season ended.
The return to first base full time reflects both Harper’s preference and the organization’s desire to stabilize his role after a year of positional movement.
With free agents such as Bohm and Arraez potentially departing, the Phillies appear prepared to build the rest of the infield around Harper at the position where he began the previous season, while using Schwarber’s occasional shifts to protect Harper’s body over the long haul.
The approach signals a more deliberate effort to keep one of the franchise’s central offensive pieces available and productive as the Phillies look to regroup for 2027.
