Bryce Harper issues warning to rest of MLB

Bryce Harper will never turn down an opportunity to pump up the image of Philadelphia, his adopted city, or the Philadelphia Phillies, the team that the superstar has become the face of since signing in 2019.

With the Phillies pacing the league with 62 first-half wins, Harper wasn't shy about promoting his squad — and issuing a warning for the rest of Major League Baseball — at the All-Star Game earlier this week.

Bryce Harper issues warning to rest of MLB

The leading NL All-Star vote-getter and starting first baseman joined the FOX All-Star pre-game show on Tuesday. Speaking with former players Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz and Derek Jeter, he discussed the Phillies' culture and plans to make trips to the World Series a common occurrence.

Talk of creating a dynasty in Philadelphia raged through the Phillies' spring training facility this February. Managing partner John Middleton gave an impassioned and profanity-laced speech about his vision of bringing the World Series trophy back to Philadelphia for the first time since 2008 and wanting to sustain that success for the foreseeable future.

The players, led by Harper, bought in. You can see the proof all around you this season. It's on display on a daily basis on the field, in the dugout and in the clubhouse.

"I'm so grateful for where I am right now," Harper said. "On a team and in a place, where I'm at, as a clubhouse and everything else, and all the players I'm around. It's not just me on that team. It's not just Bryce Harper. It's everybody, and we're such a good team with hanging out and going to dinner."

"You guys know how that is," Harper continued, referencing the successful Yankees and Red Sox teams Rodriguez, Ortiz and Jeter were a part of. "When the camaraderie is good, when the culture's good in the clubhouse, there's nothing better. Dave Dombrowski brings in the right guys no matter what."

The team chemistry was on display during the Midsummer Classic when the three Phillies infielders were mic'd up at the same time. According to The Philadelphia Inquirer's Scott Lauber, shortstop Trea Turner said the joking and laughing was genuine and common for how they act together in regular season games.

“I think they kind of got a sense of what type of team we are and how much fun we have and the camaraderie we have,” Harper said after the game, per Lauber.

Harper, Phillies plan to make multiple trips to World Series

Dombrowski, the Phillies president of baseball operations, has made no bones about his vision for the franchise. To him and manager Rob Thomson, the intangibles are just as important to this baseball team as anything else. That's why it was such a tough decision to release veteran Whit Merrifield last week.

But the bottom line is winning.

"I got chills because I know exactly what Dave wants to do, he wants to win," Harper said. "And it's not just this year. Somebody brought it up today, 'Is it World Series or bust?' No, it's World Series every year. And you guys know, playing in New York, that's what it is, same thing in Boston, that's what it is."

Those are heady words, but if you've followed Harper's career long enough, it's par for the course. He has grown into the leader he is today not just because he's always the best player on the field, but because of the culture he has helped create and cultivate in Philadelphia. Just ask Brandon Marsh.

With the second half getting underway shortly, Harper and his Phillies will look to continue their winning ways right into the postseason and deep into the playoffs. The rest of the league better watch out, the Phillies mean business — this season and for as long as Harper's wearing red pinstripes.