Bryce Harper plans to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic
The Phillies first baseman made the announcement on Instagram. He also is hoping to play for the United States in the 2028 Olympics.
Bryce Harper’s dream is to compete in the Olympics.
First, he’ll suit up for the World Baseball Classic.
Harper announced his plans Tuesday on Instagram, posting a photo of himself superimposed in a Team USA jersey. The Phillies star joins a loaded roster that includes Aaron Judge, Cal Raleigh, Bobby Witt Jr., teammate Kyle Schwarber, and ace pitchers Paul Skenes and Tarik Skubal.
“Put the colors on my chest for the 1st time when I was 15,” Harper wrote in a caption below his photo. “No other feeling like it.”
Harper was among the first players to commit to Team USA for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but he was unable to play after undergoing Tommy John elbow surgery in the previous offseason.
As a teenager, Harper participated in several international tournaments. He won a gold medal at the 2009 Pan Am junior world championship for an under-18 U.S. national team that featured 10 future major leaguers, including Manny Machado and Nick Castellanos.
Harper never misses an opportunity to stump for major leaguers in the Olympics. He discussed it at a postseason news conference in 2023 and brought it up again when the Phillies played in London in 2024. He said he has shared his feelings with commissioner Rob Manfred.
Baseball will be reinstated as an Olympic sport in 2028 in Los Angeles. In October, Manfred told reporters at the World Series that MLB will consider extending the All-Star break in 2028 to enable major leaguers to compete in the Olympics.
“I’ve been a huge advocate of baseball getting back in the Olympics and us taking that pause during the regular season, kind of like hockey does, to just let the guys go and play,” Harper told The Inquirer in 2023. “It’d be so much fun to have that and have the game and see that in the Olympics and have the best players in the world doing it.”
Meanwhile, the WBC could serve as a warm-up act.
» READ MORE: How can Bryce Harper have an ‘elite’ season in 2026? It starts with examining his atypical 2025.
Team USA will compete in Pool B of the WBC field. Players will leave their respective spring-training camps in early March. The United States will open the preliminary round March 6 in Houston against Brazil. The WBC final will be played March 17 in Miami.
Harper, 33, batted .261 and slugged .487 with 27 homers and a 129 OPS-plus last season. And although those numbers were below his typical standards, he tied for sixth among first basemen in homers and ranked fifth in slugging.
Phillies backup catcher Garrett Stubbs committed to playing in the WBC for Israel. Manager Rob Thomson said recently that he hasn’t been informed of other players who will be going to the WBC. Jesús Luzardo and José Alvarado pitched for Venezuela in 2023.