Phillies news and rumors 6/11: Bryce Harper thinks MLB should send players to the Olympics

Bryce Harper wants to play in the 2028 Olympics. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Bryce Harper delighted everyone in the baseball world — except manager Rob Thomson — when he slid on his knees towards the dugout to celebrate his home run as if he had just scored a goal. The crowd at London Stadium, the reluctant home of Premier League side West Ham United, enjoyed the surprise.

“The Showman” embraces playing on the international stage and he’s hoping baseball gives him the chance to do it again in 2028 when the Summer Olympics are in Los Angeles.

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Harper, who represented Team USA as a teenager and missed out on playing for his country in last year’s World Baseball Classic due to injury, shared his thoughts on the topic with reporters in London.

“Yes, absolutely and I’ve spoken to numerous people in MLB about it,” Harper said, according to The Athletic‘s Roshane Thomas. “I would love to be part of that. We have the WBC, but it’s not the same. People can say as much as they want, but the Olympics is so worldwide. The WBC is great and brings a lot of people together, but the Olympics is something you dream about playing in. If I have a chance to put my nation’s colors on and represent as I did at 18 and 16, then I would love it.”

Harper first spoke about his passion for sending MLB players to the Olympics in an interview with Barstool Sports in 2020. Baseball will once again be an Olympic sport in 2028 and according to a report in February from The Athletic’s Evan Drellich, some owners around the sport are more supportive of the idea of sending players to the games in 2028.

A group leading the charge to send MLB players to the Olympics discussed a possible tournament consisting of six to eight teams condensed within a week that would have minimal impact on the regular season.

By 2028, Harper will be 35 and in the 10th season of his 13-year contract with the Phillies, unless he gets the extension he was hoping for during the offseason.

Other players around the league are split on the subject of participating in the Olympics. In a recently released player survey conducted in spring training from The Athletic, only 46.6% of the more than 100 players surveyed said they are in favor of pausing the regular season to play in the Olympics.

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