Bryce Harper credits Joe Girardi for recent Phillies success

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Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper is bullish on manager Joe Girardi so far through 18 games

On paper, the Philadelphia Phillies are one of the best teams in Major League Baseball in terms of offense.

Entering Sunday’s series finale opposite the American League East’s Boston Red Sox at the historic Fenway Park, the Phillies averaging a Major League Baseball-best 5.72 runs this season; also, their .478 slugging percentage ranks as the second-best, while their .349 on-base percentage ranks as the third-best.

Outfielder Bryce Harper has been a huge part of the team’s success and recent four-game winning streak against the division-rival New York Mets and the Red Sox, which followed being swept by the once-thought-to-be lowly Baltimore Orioles.

Wednesday morning on MLB Network’s MLB Central, the six-time All-Star praised Phillies manager Joe Girardi. “I think, as a team, we are playing well right now. We went through a little rough series, and we kind of put that behind us and started playing,” Harper said. “I think we have a great lineup, a great staff as well. Having Girardi at the forefront of the organization has been great for us this year.”

“We are just trying to play the game the right way and have some fun as well.

Unique lineups

Through Tuesday evening’s 13-6 rout of the Red Sox, helping the team improve to 9-9 on the season through 18 games, Girardi has featured 16 unique lineups.

Harper said that he thinks his skipper sets every single player on the team up for success.

“The guys he puts in our lineup each day, lefty or righty — he just sets everyone up for success,” said Harper, who also said guys, such as Phil Gosselin, are coming up clutch for the team and putting up “such good at-bats.”

“[Gosselin] is a spark plug for us every time he gets into our lineup. Starting from the top, with anyone who’s up there …. [Andrew McCutchen], Roman [Quinn], or anyone like that, if they get on base for us, hopefully, we can drive them in,” Harper said.

The Las Vegas native went on to praise J.T. Realmuto for doing a great job for the Phillies this year, both behind the dish and at the plate — all the while hitting home runs and driving guys in.

“It has been a lot of fun. I think we just have a great group of guys,” Harper said. “We love one another. It is a lot of fun to be out there and play the game we love together as well.”

“It has been a lot of fun.”

Phandemic Krew

Playing during this unprecedented, 60-game 2020 season without fans has surely been a different experience for all players, including Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper.

The Phandemic Krew, the group of Phillies fans following along games just beyond the center field Ashburn Alley gates at Citizens Bank Park, are making sure the Philadelphia fan can still be represented in-person at the ballpark.

“We have a ‘krew’ out there that is out there every single game. It’s been fun,” Harper said on MLB Network Wednesday morning. “I think being able to have the support of Philly fans all over the country and in Pennsylvania — it has been a lot of fun. They come every single night.”

“They have their foghorn, shakers, drums, and things like that,” Harper continued. “It’s just been fun to have them out there.”

“We know that they support us. It is just a lot of fun.”

Getting used to shortened season

Harper said that while the season is far from the noon, it is important that he and his teammates continue to just control what they can.

“We know that there are fans at home watching us play every single night. We play for each other and for the fans that are at home watching us,” Harper said. “I think the team that can get out there and play and not worry about if there are fans in the stands — the quickest and fastest — I think that’s the team that will be most successful.”

“Everyone has to deal with it right now and there’s nothing we can really do.”

J.T. Realmuto

Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper has not been shy on his appreciation and support for fellow perennial All-Star, catcher J.T. Realmuto.

Wednesday morning on MLB Network, Harper called Realmuto a “great person,” both on and off this field, as well as a great dad and husband.

“He is everything that you want in a player for your organization,” Harper said. “He does a great job with everything he does. On the baseball field, what can you say?”

“I think everyone knows how I feel about him. He is a great catcher. He works hard; he is an unbelievable bat up there as well. He puts great at-bats going,” Harper continued.

While Harper is putting up career-best numbers so far, Realmuto arguably is right there with him, if not ahead in some categories on offense. The catcher’s eight home runs and 20 RBI are the third- and fourth-best respectively in the National League.

“He just works. He is always writing down something and trying to get his pitchers better each day,” Harper added about Realmuto. “Our starting pitchers and bullpen really love throwing to him. He is a great player and a great person as well.”

“I look forward to hopefully being with him for a couple of years into my contract.”

Seven-inning doubleheaders

Following the Phillies-Red Sox series finale Wednesday afternoon, the team will trek south to Buffalo, New York, to play a doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday. Both games will last seven innings, a new rule put in place for the shortened season to keep players fresh amid few off days and minimal time to ramp up in summer camp.

Harper said he likes seven-inning doubleheaders, as opposed to the usually nine-inning ones.

“It is great. You are able to get in two games in 14 innings and hopefully win both of them,” Harper said. I did not mind the nine either. It is part of our game now and what we have to do this year.”

Harper hopes the seven-inning doubleheaders are only temporary, however.

“We will see what [Major League Baseball does] next year and in years to come,” he said. “I would expect them to put back nine-inning doubleheaders. It is how our game is right now.”

“We have to go about it; [there is] nothing we can do.”

The Phillies have played two such doubleheaders so far this season, splitting against the Yankees on August 5, and losing both against the Atlanta Braves on August 9. All four games were played at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper (L) and his wife Kayla Harper (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Krew Turns 1 This Weekend

This Saturday, August 22, Bryce Harper and his wife, Kayla’s first son, Krew, will turn 1. The outfielder said his son is so strong, and that he hopes he becomes a hockey player, football player, or something else when he grows up.

“I don’t want him to play baseball. We will see,” Harper continued Wednesday morning on MLB Network, adding that during the shutdown between spring training and summer camp, he was excited to be able to be with Krew for two months and “not worry about anything else.”

“I’m so excited to spend time with him when I can,” Harper said. “[To] kind of see him grow, and his emotion, and just the laugh and the cuddle and everything like that — it has been so much fun to be around him, my family, and my wife.”

“We have such a good time together. I love facetiming him and being around him,” Harper continued about his son. “There is nothing better. Of course, my wife is pregnant right now with a little girl. We are getting excited about that and we are very, very fortunate to be able to bring another child into this world.”

“We are very excited.”

Stanley Cup Playoffs

Of course, Harper is a huge Las Vegas Golden Knights fan; on Sunday, they clinched a 4-1 series win against the Chicago Blackhawks to advance into the next round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Philadelphia Flyers can do the same as early as Wednesday evening, just hours after the Phillies play the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

“I’m very happy for the [Golden Knights], and very excited for them. I think everybody in this country knows I am a Knights fan,” Harper said. “I’m really excited, being Vegas-born and being from the city of Las Vegas, I am very fortunate to have a great hockey team.”

Harper said that while he is excited about his native city’s hockey team, he is excited about the Flyers as well, and that he supports “every single team in Philly.”

Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Phillie Phanatic

There is no denying that one of the best parts about Bryce Harper being on the Phillies, outside of his play on the baseball diamond and in the outfield, is that he embraces the beloved Phillie Phanatic mascot to a level arguably unmatched by any player to have donned red pinstripes before him.

The two have exchanged cleats, and, recently, shown off sport jackets that have pictures of the other sewn inside. Even on Opening Day against the Miami Marlins, Harper was seen donning furry cleats to the style of the Phanatic.

Bryce Harper went full Phillies Phanatic for opening day, with furry cleats and a Phanatic-lined jacket pic.twitter.com/oDCA107Y3z
— Hunter Schwarz (@hunterschwarz) July 25, 2020

Wednesday morning on MLB Network, Harper called the Phanatic awesome, and that his love for him actually grew while a member of the opposing Washington Nationals.

“Being able to come in as an opposing player for a couple of years and see him do what he does — he does such a great job,” Harper said. “Being able to go into the ballpark every single day, he has always got something for us. He is always doing something funny or something different.”

Harper said that the Phanatic is best at bringing joy and happiness to everyone he comes across.

“He brings that joy and happiness to the fans and the organization as well,” Harper continued. “It has just been a lot of fun. He does a great job with what he does.”

“Being able to show some support with my cleats or the suit that I wore, anything like that — it is great,” Harper added. “It is a lot of fun to be able to do that and be a part of that.”

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