June 21, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nIt is rare to see Harper hit outside at Citizens Bank Park. He, like many of the game\u2019s modern stars, believes the best pregame work is done in a more controlled setting indoors. But Harper decided to take some rips with Stott, Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto.<\/p>\n
Harper put on a show. He hit one to the third deck in right field.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was wondering,\u201d Bohm said, \u201cif he was going to hit one out of the stadium.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harper didn\u2019t have anything in particular he was practicing. That was the point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to hit homers,\u201d Harper said. \u201cJust trying to have some fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
He homered in his first at-bat against Freddy Peralta, the Mets\u2019 No. 1 starter. He took a risk in the third inning and turned a single to right field into a double. Then, later in the eight-run inning, he singled to right. In the fifth inning, he tripled on a ball in left-center that required audacious base running. He went from home to third in 11.8 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a Bryce Harper cycle,\u201d Stott said. \u201cThe extra-base double. Then, the triple. That was sick. That was sick.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the Mets made a pitching change in the fifth inning with Harper due to hit and runners on first and second, Kyle Schwarber ambled back to the dugout.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all said it to him,\u201d Stott said. \u201cKyle, you better run.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stott and Trea Turner, his double-play mate, had tried to foresee how it would happen. \u201cWhere are you going to hit your triple?\u201d Turner had asked Harper in the fourth or fifth inning. Stott told Harper he had to hit the angled part of the wall in center field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen,\u201d Stott said, \u201che hit the ball into left-center, and we were like, \u2018Oh, no. This isn\u2019t the one.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
It was not, by any standards, a normal triple. Harper would have been out by at least 30 feet had the cutoff man not fired home. But Harper never stopped running, and by definition, he did not advance to third on the throw home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a perfect storm,\u201d Stott said.<\/p>\n
The ball stuck near the bottom of the fence. It was a 10-run game, but Schwarber gunned it from first base. He is not the fastest runner, and that meant there would be a play at the plate. With anyone else running home, the cutoff man is probably thinking about Harper at third.<\/p>\n
When Harper is feeling good, he\u2019ll take risks on the bases. He will not apologize for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll tell you what: I don\u2019t really care what people think about my base running because that\u2019s how I\u2019ve always played,\u201d Harper said. \u201cI\u2019ve done it since I was 7 years old. I don\u2019t really play a different way when I know I can try to get to second base. I\u2019ve made mistakes on the bases. I\u2019m going to. Little kids are going to do the same thing. And I\u2019ll preach to them that they just play the game hard. If they get thrown out at second or third, then so be it. If I don\u2019t do that tonight, then I don\u2019t have the opportunity to hit for a cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Schwarber hit three home runs, including two in one inning that totaled 913 feet. The Phillies\u2019 two stars matched each other with incredible feats. And it was Schwarber\u2019s running that helped Harper finish the cycle.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were all focused on just trying to make sure that he gets to third base there,\u201d Schwarber said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was busting it,\u201d Harper said. \u201cSo I appreciate it. I mean, he jogged a lot tonight, so to be able to bust it around third like that for me, I definitely appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He laughed. Harper\u2019s cycle was the 11th in Phillies history and the first since Weston Wilson\u2019s in 2024. They had some fun with it.<\/p>\n
The Phillies were the second team in MLB history to have a player hit for the cycle and a player hit three homers in the same game. The other: The 1932 New York Yankees, who had a Tony Lazzeri cycle and four homers from Lou Gehrig. The Phillies had a brief champagne toast afterward. They won by 12 runs. It was a good night.<\/p>\n
When he reached third base, Harper shouted. He raised his arms to the sky. He showed emotion that the Phillies have not seen in 2026.<\/p>\n
It is easy to want to ascribe greater meaning to Harper\u2019s moods. His teammates do it. So do his coaches. People study Harper for the slightest hint of how he\u2019s feeling, but often, he\u2019ll laugh the most when he is struggling on the field. He was upset by his fifth at-bat, two innings after the cycle, because he chased a pitch out of the zone and grounded out. He carried the 35-ounce bat with him all the way to first base.<\/p>\n
Harper, 33, is not the kid he was when he debuted. He\u2019s not even the guy who came to Philadelphia in his mid-20s. So much has changed. But there is so much Harper must still accomplish to fulfill the prophesies. The cycle, his first since he was in junior college, is but a footnote.<\/p>\n
Maybe Harper will think about everything that preceded it \u2014 the carefree hitting session outdoors and the heavy bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt like I needed to stay through the ball a little bit more,\u201d Harper said. \u201cI was able to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Phil Sheridan, the team\u2019s director of clubhouse services, approached Harper after the game. He wanted to ensure everything was properly authenticated from Harper\u2019s historic night. Sheridan saw the heavy bat.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you using this tomorrow?\u201d Sheridan asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Harper said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you going to order more?\u201d Sheridan asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d Harper said.<\/p>\n
He had a text message to send.<\/p>\n