Bryce Harper’s words of wisdom for Brandon Marsh & Alec Bohm

The veteran first baseman had some advice that we all should perhaps be hearing.

The beauty of Major League Baseball is that, for six months, the next opportunity is usually just a day away.

That reality exists for everyday players, not bench guys like Kody Clemens, who has a scant three at-bats this year. For established lineup regulars like Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh, redemption is always lingering in the next week, the next game, the next day, or even the next at-bat.

On Tuesday night, the Phils’ struggling duo impacted the Phillies’ 6-4 win over the Giants in a positive way. Bohm’s clutch RBI single broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the 6th, just two innings after grounding into a double play with runners on 1st and 3rd and one out. There’s no doubt there are miles to go before anyone can diagnose Bohm as being “fixed,” but with a ringing double off the wall in Monday night’s loss and his single with a runner in scoring position Tuesday, perhaps the tide is turning.

Brandon Marsh found himself in a run-producing opportunity in the bottom of the 2nd, with a runner on 3rd and less than two out, and Marsh produced a fly ball deep enough to allow the run to score, giving the Phils an early 2-0 lead. We’ll take it.

After the game, Bryce Harper, who blasted a cloud scraper of a dinger to give the Phillies two huge insurance runs in the 7th, offered some zen-like thoughts on the struggles of his younger teammates.

“I just want them to enjoy the game,” he said. “Life can be a lot harder, life can be a lot tougher, we get to play this beautiful game every day. I was standing in the on-deck circle in the third inning thinking about it — it’s a great game we get to play. Obviously, you’re going to go through ups and downs in life and in the season and it’s a hard thing to do. But at the end of the day, we’re all healthy, we’re all strong.

“Just go out there and enjoy it because it’ll go quick and you’ll start thinking to yourself why did I take it so serious and it’s gone now.” (quotes via NBC Sports Philly)

It has appeared as if these Phillies know the pressure is on them to win it all this year, that the only outcome of the 2025 season that will satisfy anyone is a World Series. The fanbase is simply waiting out this regular season to see them play in October, and every slump, every losing streak, is magnified because the stakes are so high.

Like the 1980 team that fell short of getting to the Fall Classic in 1976, ‘77 and ‘78, this may be the last chance for this particular group of players to get it done together. Bryson Stott, Marsh and Bohm said before the season they weren’t going to douse the game’s hero in water and snacks anymore, that they were growing out of that phase, and it appears the younger players (who aren’t so young anymore) want to mature on the baseball field a bit.

That all sounds good, but it’s possible to swing too far the other way and remove some of what makes the game fun.

Harper is putting his finger on something that is no surprise to anyone — Marsh and Bohm are putting too much pressure on themselves. It’s understandable, of course. The fanbase lacks faith in them at the moment and Bohm and Marsh are desperate to turn around their early season slumps and produce.

Certainly struggling at this kids’ game can cause angst and create self-doubt, but Harper’s wise words hopefully will allow them to cut through the noise (some of which is made by podcasters and writers like myself) and take the game as it comes.

After Tuesday’s victory, Bohm tried to put his rocky 2025 into focus.

“The only important at-bat is the next one.”

Honestly, if we all approached life like that, we’d be less likely to be stressed, frustrated and down on ourselves.

It’s easier said than done, of course, but for one night, Marsh, Bohm, and the Phils offense managed to put their recent slump aside, score some runs, and win a ballgame.

It’s a start.