MIAMI — When Bryce Harper said that he thinks the Phillies need some help at the deadline after losing for the eighth time in 11 games on Tuesday, it didn’t necessarily sit well with his manager.
Interim bench boss Don Mattingly heard the comments, and felt that while Harper said it out loud, that it didn’t necessarily reflect what other players in the clubhouse were thinking or feeling at the same time.
“I sense that Bryce is thinking about it. I don’t really sense that anybody else is thinking about it, honestly,” Mattingly said Wednesday prior to the finale of their three-game series here with the Marlins. “I mean, you’ve been through this. Guys want to be a GM for what you need without a real understanding of where the organization is, exactly where this thing goes not only this year, but moving forward.
“Players like being GMs and making calls and spending other people’s money. I’ll just let it go at that. I mean, (Phillies President of Baseball Operations) Dave (Dombrowski) has been doing this awhile. He’s never really backed away from trying to get guys. We’re trying to get better. We’re trying to get better at the deadline.”
PREGAME: Phillies manager Don Mattingly addressing the media as Philadelphia looks to avoid the sweep vs. the Marlins.
First pitch: 12:10 PM ET. pic.twitter.com/2vz4OB9nPp
— Tyler Boronski (@TylerBoronski) July 29, 2026
Mattingly said it’s not his first rodeo with an outspoken player. And while Harper is very calculated in what he says and when he says it, Mattingly is more just brutally honest about his assessments. Mattingly is not mad at Harper for what he said, but he doesn’t like it because it sends the wrong message.
“Am I bothered? No. I just don’t like it from the fact of what I’ve been saying – that we don’t like our players that are here. I just don’t,” Mattingly said. “I think you’re always trying to get better. You should always incrementally try to get better, no matter who you are. (Even) if you’re the Dodgers, and you’ve won two straight (championships). We’re trying to get better in different ways.”
All that said, Mattingly doesn’t feel the need to address this with Harper.
“Not really. I mean Bryce is Bryce. He is going to say what he wants,” Mattingly said. “I’m not really concerned about it. I just kind of take it with a grain of salt. Knowing how players are, over the years I’ve heard this. It’s not the first time I’ve heard this, you know, ‘we need, we need.’ I always look at it internally. I got to get better. We got to get better. It’s as simple as that.
“I think our guys would say that we got to do better. We’re capable of doing better. We’re going to do better. But we need to fight better. I think our players would say that.”
But only one of them said the part out loud that manager wishes he didn’t – and it’s the biggest voice in the room.
Will this all galvanize the Phillies, or will it crater them? A lot will be dependent about what happens over the next six days.
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