For the majority of his 13-year career, there's been one guy who you could constantly pencil in to either hit third or fourth in the lineup — Bryce Harper, and for good reason. His ability to take a pitcher deep, paired with the two-strike approach that we've seen from him so often since becoming a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, is exactly what you want from someone who is hitting in one of the marquee spots of the lineup.
That's where he feels most comfortable, too, and it translates onto the field. Ever since he arrived in Philly in 2019, Harper is batting .287 in 2,195 at-bats from the three-hole, and .278 in 259 at-bats from the cleanup spot.
Bryce Harper not interested in hitting leadoff in Phillies' lineup
After arriving in Clearwater for spring training, Harper was greeted by a herd of reporters at his locker. Various topics came up, such as a potential contract extension or hitting in the leadoff spot. Harper shut the latter down almost immediately, however, as shared by On Pattison's Tim Kelly.
"I mean, I haven't been talked to yet," Harper said. "Obviously, I'm a three-hole hitter and I have been. But whenever they tell me to hit two or four, I've done that in the past as you guys know. I wanna win, so I don't care what it takes."
Ronald Acuña Jr., Shohei Ohtani and Francisco Lindor have had success leading off. @TimKellySports asked Bryce Harper why he feels more comfortable hitting a bit lower in the lineup. pic.twitter.com/W63h3LZpPL
— On Pattison (@OnPattison) February 15, 2025
The leadoff hitter has been a hot topic surrounding the Phillies over the offseason. Kyle Schwarber has donned the crown for the past three years, but seems open for a change, and if he were to move down, it would provide Harper with protection, something that has been lacking at times. Trea Turner's name has been thrown around as a possible candidate for it as well due to his quickness and ability to get on base.
Bryson Stott has also been mentioned as a potential leadoff candidate, although that would make the Phillies extremely left-handed at the top, which is something Thomson is looking to avoid.
"The thing is we're so left-handed, and you want Harper and you want Schwarber getting as many at-bats as you can," Thomson told The Phillies Show podcast in late January. "Now you put Stott in the leadoff now you're really left-handed at the top, and it may create a problem, even if you're facing a right-hander, everybody's got three lefties in the 'pen it seems, and they'll just start matching up on you."
The league is starting to adopt the trend of putting the best players at the top of the lineup to maximize the amount of at-bats they get per game. Francisco Lindor, Shohei Ohtani and Ronald Acuña Jr. are some notable players who all hit leadoff for their teams last season and had success doing so. Lindor and Ohtani both hit over .300 with 25+ home runs each in the spot last season, and Acuña won the NL MVP in 2023 with his success coming from the leadoff spot.
The Phillies experimented with Harper in the leadoff spot back in 2019 for eight games. He hit .267 with three home runs and nine RBI and once in 2022, where he went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. Harper, however, has no intentions of running this back in 2025.
"I'll take the extra at-bats," Harper said, per Kelly. "But I don't want to hit leadoff."
We may see a fixture of players kicking off the Phillies batting order in 2025, but one thing seems certain: Bryce Harper won't be one of them.
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