Mar 19, 2025; Clearwater, Florida, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper (3) looks on against the New York Yankees at BayCare Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images Kim Klement Neitzel
Phillies pitchers and catchers — and OnPattison — will report to Spring Training on Wednesday. Here are three storylines I'm looking forward to seeing play themselves out at Clearwater.
Perhaps the story of the offseason was the fallout to comments that president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski made in his year-end press conference when asked about Bryce Harper's 2025 season.
"I guess we'll find out if he becomes elite (again) or he continues to be good," Dombrowski said of Harper. "Can he rise to the next level? I don't really know the answer. He's the one that will dictate that more than anything else.
"I don't think he's content with the year that he had. It wasn't a bad year, but when I think of Bryce Harper, you think elite. You think one of the top 10 players in baseball. I don't think he fit into that category. Very good player, but I have no idea. I've seen guys his age ... level off, and I've seen guys rise again. We'll see what happens." By his own standards, Bryce Harper had a down season. Will that become a trend? Dave Dombrowski says it’s up to Harper.
“I guess we will find out if he becomes elite, or if he continues to be good.”
(via @GraceDelPizzo) pic.twitter.com/8hjsp5yJRC
In late October, Harper spoke to The Athletic's Matt Gelb about how the subsequent trade speculation that emerged in the aftermath of Dombrowski's comments — which the president of baseball operations attempted to squash — "hurt" him.
Harper hasn't spoken on the record since then, so it will be interesting when he arrives at camp to see what the two-time NL MVP has to say. Surely, it wasn't an accident that he posted a TikTok wearing a shirt that said "not elite" in late December:
Bryce Harper’s new shirt via his TikTok: “Not elite.” pic.twitter.com/51wbLrgdXF
The guess here is that Harper will downplay the whole thing, saying that he and Dombrowski have cleared the air and things are all positive moving forward, and that the shirt was just having fun.
However, if you follow Harper, you learn that nothing he says or does publicly is ever an accident. Is there a chance that Harper acknowledges in his first meeting with media members of 2026 that he is still frustrated with Dombrowski's comments and it's something that will be fueling him in 2026? And if so, was that what Dombrowski hoped to accomplish with his comments?
From here, the biggest issue for Harper, now entering his 15th MLB season, remains health. Right wrist inflammation cost Harper most of the month of June last year, and the last time he played more than 150 games in a season was 2019, his first season with the Phillies. He can be as motivated as possible, but if his body doesn't cooperate, it's going to prevent him from being able to join Shohei Ohtani, Aaron Judge and Mike Trout as the only active players to win three MVPS.
You may think that "the Big 3" refers to Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner, but without a change at manager or much in the way of roster turnover, the trio of players who are going to be under the microscope at Clearwater the most are Justin Crawford, Andrew Painter and Aidan Miller, all of whom who could inject life into a veteran-heavy roster in 2026.
The Phillies will likely try to minimize the pressure on Crawford in camp and beyond, but even if he's hitting ninth on Opening Day, it's going to be hard to do that. There's long been debate about whether someone that puts the ball on the ground more than 50% of the time can become a star at the major league level. But Crawford has nothing left to prove in the minors after hitting .334 with 46 stolen bases at Triple-A Lehigh Valley a year ago. Dombrowski has acknowledged there is some internal disagreement on whether Crawford will wind up in center or left field, but the former is much more valuable, and after letting Harrison Bader leave in free agency, it's likely where Crawford will make his MLB Debut at. Evaluation of Crawford won't start on March 26 when the Phillies welcome the Texas Rangers to Citizens Bank Park, but from the second he reports to big-league camp. There is, whether the Phillies like it or not, a fair amount of pressure on the 22-year-old.
Andrew Painter also has quite a bit of pressure on him in 2026 as well. The July-ish timeline that Dombrowski put out for when Painter could potentially make his MLB Debut a year ago probably wasn't a good management of expectations for a pitcher in his first year back after missing two whole years recovering from Tommy John surgery. Painter finishing 2025 healthy, even if he posted a 5.40 ERA in 25 starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, was a small victory. But the Phillies need much more from Painter in 2026. The reality is he was a luxury a year ago. With Ranger Suárez having departed in free agency and some uncertainty surrounding Zack Wheeler entering his age-36 season, the Phillies need Painter to make an impact this year. In an ideal world, Painter, who will turn 23 in April, will pitch well enough in Grapefruit League play to crack the Opening Day roster.
Unlike Crawford and Painter, Miller doesn't appear to be competing for a spot on the Opening Day roster. However, the 21-year-old former first-round pick has talent evaluators gung ho. Keith Law of The Athletic ranked him as the No. 6 prospect in all of baseball. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel had him at No. 10. Just Baseball's Aram Leighton raved about Miller when he appeared on Phillies Stoplight🚦during the December MLB Winter Meetings. Miller spent most of last season at Double-A Reading, before a late-season promotion to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. In 116 games, he hit 14 home runs, doubled 27 times and posted an .825 OPS, while swiping 59 bases. The biggest question surrounding him this spring will be where the Phillies envision him playing defensively, as he's blocked at shortstop by Trea Turner currently. Third base and second base are the most likely landing spots, though it would be interesting with Miller's athleticism to see if he could handle left field.
Particularly with many of the team's stars set to compete in the World Baseball Classic from March 5-17, there's going to be a ton of focus on Crawford, Painter and Miller this spring.
The Phillies inked Zack Wheeler to a three-year/$126 million contract extension in March of 2024 ahead of what would have been his contract year. The Phillies were unsuccessful in attempts to reach long-term deals with Aaron Nola (2023) and Kyle Schwarber (2025) before their walk years, but ended up guaranteeing them $322 million combined in free agency, so they wound up paying a premium for both.
Dombrowski will surely be asked about the possibility of extending Luzardo before his contract year this spring, and will just as surely respond by saying that he doesn't like to discuss contract negotiations publicly. But both sides have reason to consider a long-term pact this spring.
During his first season with the Phillies, Luzardo finished seventh in NL Cy Young Award voting, posting a 3.92 ERA and 2.90 FIP — while striking out 216 batters — over 183 2/3 innings. He allowed just two runs over 7 2/3 postseason innings, a combination of a Game 2 start and Game 4 relief appearance in the NLDS against the eventual World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers. If Luzardo repeats or even improves upon that season, he's going to be looking at a massive payday in free agency next winter, when he'll still only be 29 years old.
What would motivate Luzardo to consider a contract extension? Well, the Phillies are already his fourth organization since being drafted in the third round of the 2016 MLB Draft, and the first three — the Washington Nationals, Athletics and Miami Marlins — aren't exactly model franchises. He's in a good spot now with the Phillies, and seemed to embrace the challenge of pitching in meaningful games down the stretch a year ago. Additionally, Luzardo had Tommy John surgery during his senior year of high school, and a combination of left elbow tightness and a lumbar stress reaction limited him to only 66 2/3 innings in 2024. Luzardo could bet on himself and wind up making $200 million in free agency, or he could get hurt in his contract year and wish he would have taken a major payday from the Phillies prior to his contract year.
One thing that should be clear is that while Luzardo once was represented by Scott Boras — who almost always takes his clients to free agency — he is now two agencies removed, even though some outlets continue to incorrectly refer to him as a Boras client. Luzardo is represented by Roc Nation Sports.
Would Luzardo, before his contract year, take a five-year/$140 million extension on top of his $11 million salary in 2026? The Phillies should try to find out this spring.
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