The Philadelphia Phillies were looking for a jolt. Bryce Harper tried to provide it – by reaching into the city’s football playbook.
In a nod to Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni’s now-legendary midseason head shave that helped catalyze a Super Bowl-winning turnaround in 2024, Harper showed up to Monday night’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals with a freshly shaved head.
The symbolism was clear: reset the energy, reset the season.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, the gesture fell flat. Harper went hitless, and Philadelphia dropped a 3-2 heartbreaker, continuing a troubling offensive trend.
“Bryce Harper shaved his head trying to turn around his season just like Nick Sirianni did earlier in the Eagles’ eventual Super Bowl season. But it didn’t work. Bryce is batting .232. The Phillies tonight were just 1-7 with runners in scoring position and only managed two runs in the loss,” John Clark of NBC Philadelphia posted on X.
It’s not just one game. The Phillies have been ice cold in clutch moments, entering the night ranked 26th in Major League Baseball in batting average with runners in scoring position.
And Harper’s own struggles at the plate are becoming hard to ignore – he’s hitting just .232 in May, well below his usual standard.
The Sirianni comparison is natural, especially in a city that lives and dies with its sports teams.
Last fall, the Eagles head coach buzzed his hair in the middle of a slump, and the Birds responded with six straight wins and a Super Bowl title. But Harper’s attempt at symbolic inspiration hasn’t produced similar results – at least not yet.
For fans, the haircut is eerily reminiscent of Harper’s 2018 beard shave, which sparked speculation he was signing with the Yankees before he ultimately chose Philadelphia.
Like that moment, this feels more like an attempt to shift the energy than a sign of mechanical adjustments at the plate.
That kind of vibe shift might work in football, where momentum is everything. In baseball, though, results are often earned through adjustments, not rituals.
And while Harper has a long track record of coming through in big spots – his 1.149 OPS with runners on base in 2019 remains one of the best single-season marks in franchise history – his current slump has put added pressure on a Phillies lineup that’s been consistently underwhelming in key moments.
So far, the clippers haven’t cured the cold bats. And unless Philadelphia finds a way to capitalize with men on base, no haircut – no matter how well-intentioned – will turn this season around.
What are your thoughts on Harper’s interesting attempt to turn things around in Philly???
