‘Not elite’ Bryce Harper might lose his No. 3 spot in the Phillies lineup, flip with Kyle Schwarber at No. 2

Maybe giving Bryce Harper better protection will return him to “elite” status.

The most intriguing tidbit the Phillies provided Tuesday in their Hot Stove state of the union news conferences concerned how the run-it-back lineup will be organized.

The Phils led the National League in batting average and finished second in OPS as they won their second consecutive NL East title. That offense was led by a lineup that generally featured Trea Turner leading off, Kyle Schwarber batting second, and Harper batting third. Harper has spent most of his career batting third.

This year might be different.

“Yeah, I’ve got some ideas,” said manager Rob Thomson. “I’ve got to talk to the players about it, but you could see a change this year, flipping those guys around a little bit.”

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Asked later if the changes could involve Harper moving out of the three-hole, Thomson said, “Yes.”

A change might do him good.

A wrist injury and a steady diet of breaking balls — a career-high 41.3% — led to Harper’s worst season since 2016. His .844 OPS was 22nd in baseball and more than 50 points below his .911 career OPS entering 2025.

This dip in production led Phillies president Dave Dombrowski, in his postseason news conference in October, to cast Harper as “a quality player” who didn’t “have an elite season like he has had in the past.”

This upset Harper, who, nine days later, told The Athletic he was “hurt” by the comments and the resulting fallout. That included speculation that the Phillies might be better off trading Harper — media-fueled speculation, and something the Phillies never considered.

Dombrowski has said he had a conversation with Harper in November and emerged from that discussion believing that their relationship was fine.

Then, on Dec. 26, Harper posted a TikTok video of himself hitting in a batting cage while wearing a sweatshirt that said, “NOT ELITE.”

He doesn’t seem fine.

Harper had announced via social on Dec. 23 that he plans to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic in March.

Thomson said Tuesday that Harper had been hitting in late December, earlier than usual, to better prepare for the WBC … and, maybe, to make Dombrowski eat his words.

“I think he’s motivated. I really do,” Thomson said. “I think he’s motivated to play for his country, and I think he’s motivated to win a world championship.”

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Will Harper be motivated to move from the No. 3 spot?

His career OPS while batting second is .791 in 1,010 plate appearances, though those numbers reflect him as a much younger player. In his most recent stretch of hitting No. 2 — 14 games last season — Harper’s OPS was .900.

Schwarber, meanwhile, has a career OPS of .882 when batting second and .816 when batting third, though he only has 209 plate appearances batting third. For what it’s worth, Schwarber’s OPS in the cleanup spot is .937 in 475 plate appearances.

Dombrowski might have put his foot in his mouth in October, but he’s right. Harper’s production lagged in 2025. He’s 33 this season.

A lineup change might be just what the Topper ordered.

This isn’t the first time Harper’s spot in the lineup has come into question with spring training looming. In fact, this time last year nobody knew who would hit where, exactly. The three previous seasons, Schwarber had been an unusual leadoff hitter — low-average, high-power, few RBIs.

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The Phillies were eager to harness Schwarber’s power (they did: he led baseball with 132 RBIs last year) and replace him up top with Turner or Bryson Stott. If that didn’t work, they hoped their best hitter since ,might be willing to do the job.

Harper was not interested in that.

“Obviously, I’m a three-hole hitter, and I have been, but whenever they’ve told me to hit two or four, I’ve done that in the past,” Harper said last spring. “I like to see pitches before I hit, seeing what the guy’s going to do.”

It’s unlikely Harper will be asked to hit leadoff this season, considering last year Turner won both the job and the NL batting title, hitting .304.

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But it seems extremely likely that Harper and Schwarber will switch, at least occasionally. Both bat left-handed, but Schwarber hit 23 homers off lefties last season with a .962 OPS, both records for left-handed hitters. Of course, he did this with Harper usually standing in the on-deck circle.

And when Harper came to bat, pitchers knew the No. 4 hitter wasn’t much of a threat. Usually, it was a right-hander like Nick Castellanos, J.T. Realmuto, or Alec Bohm, all of whom struggled in 2025. Early in the season, it was Schwarber.

This season, $10 million free agent Adolis García will probably get the first chance. He’s hit mostly cleanup the past four years. He’s a right-handed hitter. He has power potential, averaging just over 30 home runs for the Rangers from 2021-24.

No other player makes sense, especially since Thomson will want to maximize the number of appearances for his would-be elite players, Schwarber and Harper.

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So, ultimately, who will protect whom? It will be one of the more interesting story lines at spring training.

It also might not be determined by the end of the Phillies’ preseason. The WBC could occupy Harper for two full weeks right in the middle of spring training.

That might be irrelevant. In a make-or-break season for a Phillies core that has underachieved the past three years, it sounds like Thomson might juggle the lineup every day of the season if he feels like it, preference and feelings be damned.

His current philosophy:

“Whoever’s hitting good — protect them.”