Bryce Harper wants an Olympic run before it’s all said and done.
The vocal Phillies superstar wants Major League Baseball to consider suspending their season temporarily for other Olympics, as is done in the WNBA for the summer games, and in the NHL for the winter.
Typically, Team USA is often made up of minor leaguers and former MLB players, but Harper would like a shot to represent the red, white and blue.
He said so before the Phillies’ 6-5 loss to the Mets in the finale of MLB’s two-game London Series over the weekend.
The 2028 Summer Olympics are in Los Angeles and baseball is making a return after being played on a trial basis in 2020, and after not being played in 2016 nor 2012.
“There’s nothing more worldwide than the Olympics,” Harper said to reporters while in London. “I watch the most random sports in the Olympics because it’s the Olympics, and that’s really cool. I love hockey. It’s one of my favorite sports to watch. To see (the NHL) take that three-week break and let those guys go play, that’s another big goal that we should have as Major League Baseball.”
He continued, “I’ve talked to numerous people with MLB about it. I would love to be a part of that. We have the (World Baseball Classic), but it’s not the same. It’s not. The Olympics is something that you dream about playing in.”
As of now, only amateurs and pro baseball players not on 40-man rosters are allowed to partake in the Olympics, meaning no Major Leaguers can depart mid-season to represent their country.
On the 2021 roster — the Summer Olympics delayed a year due to the COVID pandemic — Team USA had a roster that included the likes of Scott Kazmir, Edwin Jackson, Simeon Woods-Richardson and Todd Frazier, all of whom played in the majors — or in the case of SWR, was on his way and eventually did.
Team USA took home silver after losing to Japan, who pauses their domestic league to play in the games, and on their team was Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who later signed with the Dodgers, former Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and current Mets starter Kodai Senga, among others.
The 2028 Olympics are scheduled to take place from July 14-30.
Since becoming an official medal sport in 1992, Team USA has only won one gold medal, and that was in 2000, as they were led by Ben Sheets and Roy Oswalt, among others.
Team USA also won silver medals and two bronze medals in the Olympics.
Harper, who’ll be 35 in 2028, had been slated to play for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic last spring but withdrew after undergoing Tommy John surgery in November 2022.
Prior to being selected No. 1 overall in the 2010 MLB Draft, Harper played on Team USA’s 16-and-under team in 2008 and 18-and-under team in 2009.
