NL WILDCARD GAME: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

September 28, 2026

Bryce Harper

Truist Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Workout Day Press Conference

Q. (In progress.)

BRYCE HARPER: We haven't faced somebody that long or that length. It's a little tough. Obviously Chris L being Chris L, he's one of the best pitchers in the world. It's really two pitches, a two-pitch combo. Anybody that can punch out as many guys as he has in his career and he's got a two-pitch mix, yeah, he's just tough. He's obviously a future Hall of Famer, and I think we've done a pretty good job against him the last couple.

I think we've scored 3 and 2, something like that. Just got to try to get ahead early on him.

Q. You guys have played the Braves obviously in the Playoffs before. Is there something about this matchup that you like or intrigues you about facing this opponent in the Playoffs?

BRYCE HARPER: I love playing here. This is one of my favorite parks to play in. I love the field. I love the setup of it, everything. I enjoy coming into Atlanta and playing. Obviously the crowd is in it. They love their team, and it's just a lot of fun coming in here and playing. Everybody knows the numbers and what happened in the regular season. It's kind of been like that the last couple years.

Once postseason starts, it's a whole different game. Just try to do the best we can and understand we're a very good baseball team, and we're ready to go.

Q. (Question about the organ.)

BRYCE HARPER: They've been doing that since Turner Field. It used to be Darth Vader. My favorite was in 2018, they played go Cubs go, they played New York New York just because they were having some fun with where I was going.

But yeah, it's usually Darth Vader.

Q. We didn't get to talk about this because a lot of stuff happened yesterday, but you played 162. Why was that important to you, and when during the season did you say this is something I want to do or I can do?

BRYCE HARPER: Yeah, it kind of all started in the off-season, understanding where my body was, where my mind was. My wrist felt great. I wasn't hurting in the off-season. I have a lot of people to thank for it, obviously, from off-season to in season. Just keeping my body healthy, understanding there's going to be bumps and bruises, and I probably should have taken a couple days off here and there, but there's days where I thought I would take one off and I'd go in and have two hits or hit a double and a homer or something would happen.

There was multiple times throughout the season that Paul would come up to me and go, hey, this would probably be a good day. No, I'm good.

I think not just for myself wanting to play 162, but just for my teammates, understanding it doesn't matter how you're feeling or what you're going through, if I'm playing every day, everybody should.

I think as a team, as an organization, you should want to play every day. Obviously there's times where it's not going to happen and you're not feeling well, and again, there were bumps and bruises throughout the whole season. But to say I did it is a really cool feeling.

Q. I'm sure that's a nice precedent for the younger players on this team. What do you notice about the younger players when they experience postseason baseball for the first time?

BRYCE HARPER: Yeah, I mean, I think all the work that you put in during the season and all the work that you put in to get you to this point, all that doesn't matter. It's the same game that we've been playing. It just might get a little bit quicker or might speed up on you a little bit if you let it.

But if you can really hone in on just the same nature of the game that makes it the same, from the fans to facing other teams to stepping in the batter's box, if you can really try to just enjoy the moment, I don't know, you could go 0-4 tomorrow or you could go 0-5 tomorrow or you can 3-4 with two homers and win a game. If you just really take in the moment, take in the opportunity, there's no greater feeling. It's something about October that just makes it different.

I think about Dan Marino, he gets there for the first time his first year and then never gets back. I think that's a big thing for me is understanding that we've been here five years in a row, understanding that I've played in nine post-seasons in the 15 that I've played.

So I'm very lucky. Obviously I haven't got to the point where I want to be or our team hasn't either, but just to be in these moments, just to be given the opportunity to be here, I'm so grateful for that. It motivates me to get to these points.

Q. What about this group feels different than the other groups that have gotten to the postseason?

BRYCE HARPER: I think they're different, but they have a little bit of the same DNA. With the guys that we have, we have a lot of the same and similar DNA that we've had the last couple years, with a sprinkle of a couple other guys. Our guys are getting older. Stoddard is coming into his zone, Bohmer obviously is on his last year here. Don't know what's going to happen with that. D Hill has been an incredible asset for us in the outfield and at home plate against lefties, De La Cruz same thing. These guys making the moves that we have and on the offensive side can change a postseason for you. Big hit here, big hit there. It's funny to look back on a lot of post-seasons in baseball history. Not many of the superstar players play to their ability. It's always that hush-hush guy down the lineup that just makes an impact and you win the game. It's happened for the Phillies. It's happened for the Red Sox.

There's so many times -- San Francisco Giants, if you look at all those from 2010 to '14, not many of those guys you think are going to make an impact made an impact, right? It's pretty cool. You never know who the October hero is going to be, and then you get to the end and you're like, man, that guy had a great postseason and you might never hear from him again.

It's a cool opportunity for a lot of guys that have never played here, and you could end up being a hero after having just an absolute terrible year.

Q. What's made Hill such a good fit?

BRYCE HARPER: He's just a professional, I would say. He's got a professional mindset. Obviously having his pops, coming from a big-league family, I think that helps a lot. So he's just very professional. I think it's one of the better -- obviously Dave has made great moves, but I think it's one of the better moves Dave has made for our organization bringing him in. He's had huge hits for us, he's played some incredible outfield, but what he brings to the table and the clubhouse as well, for our young outfielders and for the outfield out there, he's always backing up bases, he's always trying to take the extra bag. He's a gamer. He plays the game the right way, and you need guys like that on your team.