“Not among the elite”: Bryce Harper lashed out at his manager’s comments in the final

Bryce Harper assured us that he wasn't motivated by Dave Dombrowski's comments, in which Dombrowski publicly questioned whether his star player still belonged among baseball's elite.

The first baseman said he motivates himself.

That said, I find it very hard to believe that the veteran didn't have his president's comments on his mind last night when he hit his two-run home run in the World Baseball Classic final.

Seeing him tie the game, seeing him perform a majestic bat flip, seeing him point to the American flag on his jersey… he had something to prove, and he did it in style yesterday.

Bryce Harper enjoyed every second of his unbelievably clutch homer pic.twitter.com/64WZxSzCly— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) March 18, 2026

And I have a hard time believing, as I said, that he wasn't thinking about DD at some point yesterday.

While his teammates (including Aaron Judge) were slumping, the Phillies player recorded two of his team's three hits. He drove in his team's only two runs… and he clearly suffered when he saw his team lose.

Respect Bryce Harper congratulated players from Team Venezuela following their #WorldBaseballClassic championship win pic.twitter.com/pnAdx94oi2 — World Baseball Classic (@WBCBaseball) March 18, 2026

I can't wait to see how he plays early in the season in Philly. Will he be able to build on his strong performance in the final, after having a tougher tournament?

That remains to be seen.

Harper may have a big contract and two MVP titles under his belt, but he lost in the World Series in 2022 (three years after the Nationals' victory… without him) and he just lost in the World Baseball Classic final.

In my opinion, given his manager's comments and yesterday's loss, he's going to be hungry this season.

Created by humans, assisted by AI.