Philadelphia Phillies All-Star first baseman Bryce Harper has cemented himself as one of MLB’s best-ever playoff performers. He will once again suit up as his Phillies prepare to host the rival Atlanta Braves on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball.
Not only does the 32-year-old’s 1.016 playoff OPS rank third all-time (behind George Brett and Carlos Beltran), but the two-time MVP also boasts a host of surreal postseason performances, including in 2023 against the Braves.
It was in the 2023 NLDS where Harper’s rivalry against current Colorado Rockies shortstop Orlando Arcia was born. After the Phillies star was unceremoniously doubled up to end Game 2, Arcia reportedly mocked him with the repeated phrase “Atta boy, Harper” in the Braves clubhouse.
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Word got back to Harper — “[my teammates] looked at me, and they were like, ‘What are you going to do [about it]?’” he said — and he responded with a pair of epic home runs in Game 3.
As Harper rounded the bases, he defiantly stared down Arcia each time as the Phillies won the game 10-2. Philadelphia was victorious again a night later to knock Atlanta out of the playoffs for a second straight season.
He can look wherever he wants to look,” Arcia said via a translator after the incident. “When you’re in the clubhouse, I was under the impression you could say whatever you wanted. He wasn’t supposed to hear it. That’s when we were talking in the clubhouse.”
Arcia attempted to return the favor a season later, staring down Harper as he rounded first base following a home run of his home midway through the 2024 season.
His glee would be short-lived. Arcia, a former top prospect with the Milwaukee Brewers once upon a time, got off to a slow start in 2025 and was released by Atlanta.
Compare and contrast his 2023 and 2025 campaigns. In 2023, he mashed to a .741 OPS with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs. In 2024, he struggled with a .445 OPS and just a single RBI in the 14 games before Atlanta released him.
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As a whole, the Braves have completely melted down in 2025 from the organization that reached the playoffs each year from 2018 to 2024.
Harper’s Phillies are once again atop the National League East (with a diminishing lead over the rival New York Mets) and look poised to challenge for a bye.