Bryce Harper Drops Brutally Honest Quote About Hopes for Phillies Trade Deadline Upgrades

The Philadelphia Phillies lineup went missing in action during Tuesday's 1-0 loss to the Miami Marlins, and Bryce Harper didn't exactly hold back when discussing what needs to happen before Monday's trade deadline.

"I think we need some help," he told reporters. "But I think we've proved pretty much all year we've done a pretty good job. But anytime you can get some help in here and reinforcements, I think it helps."

He also said "both" when asked if the Phillies needed another bat or pitching at the deadline.

To say things have not been going well for the Phillies since the All-Star break would be quite the understatement.

Tuesday's loss dropped them to 3-8 after the break and 1-6 in their last seven. It was the sixth time since the break the offense failed to score more than one run, which was notable since Harper was directly asked if he believed the offense needed another bat to deal with elite pitching like Miami brought Tuesday.

Sandy Alcantara allowed four hits and struck out five in seven scoreless innings to drop his ERA to 3.82 on the season. The right-hander has been largely excellent for the Marlins all season and helped them pick up an important win against a division rival.

As for the Phillies, they have no shortage of offensive star power with Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner, among others, which makes the recent struggles all the more concerning.

Still, they will likely be buyers ahead of the deadline if they are going to make a move.

Despite the recent issues, Philadelphia is six games over .500 and occupies the second wild-card spot in the National League. All that aforementioned star power would make it particularly dangerous in a short playoff series, as any combination of those players getting hot at the right time could swing the outlook in October.

But the front office is now under quite the spotlight after Harper's comments, which are not his first on the topic.

He also told reporters before Tuesday's loss, "I mean everybody in here knows what we want. Everybody in baseball kind of knows what we need. So there's players out there that are available, and I think we have a good opportunity to go get the guys we need. If that's bullpen, if that's in our lineup, if that's a starting pitcher. You guys know what our five spot's looked like all year."

Harper has largely earned the right to be so direct thanks to his impressive career, but he is struggling right along with the team and entered Tuesday's game hitting just .160 in July.

Even if Philadelphia does make improvements at the deadline, it will need Harper to return to form if it is going to live up to its potential in October.