Philadelphia Phillies: 3 positive takeaways from the season so far

Bryce Harper’s presence and production should keep the Philadelphia Phillies from blowing it all up.

Bryce Harper continues to hit and put up some strong early numbers that would track well toward defending his National League MVP. He probably won’t get it because he missed some significant time already. Unless Harper has one of those amazing months in store for this summer, he will probably fall short in important categories like RBI. It also doesn’t help that he is unable to play the field and has made the team less valuable overall because of it.

Nevertheless, Harper’s long contract with the Phillies should further continue to keep the front office interested in building. They may at some point take a huge step back during his tenure in Philadelphia. This is nothing unusual for contracts of that length. The Atlanta Braves weren’t always good during Freddie Freeman’s time with the club. Even the New York Yankees, near the end of Alex Rodriguez, sold at the trade deadline.

With Harper in tow, the Phillies should refrain from blowing it all up. They are probably stuck with Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber outside of a pure salary-dump deal. That’s not such a bad thing because they have shown an ability to be capable big leaguer hitters at a high level.

The better Harper plays, the better the Phillies seem to be. And with him continuing to hit, the Phillies should at least hold steady even if they do subtract a few pieces.