Bryce Harper sends strong message to Phillies front office ahead of trade deadline

The Phillies’ futile offensive showing to start the second half made it exceedingly clear to Bryce Harper that this current lineup just isn’t up to par.“I think we need some help,” Harper said after a 1-0 road loss to the Marlins on Tuesday night.“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 some reinforcements, it helps.”While Philadelphia is averaging 4.0 runs per game since the break while going 3-8, that’s propped up by 10-run and 11-run performances.In the other nine games, they’re averaging 2.6 runs per game.The trade deadline is five days away and Philadelphia — and Harper — is sending a pretty clear message to top baseball executive Dave Dombrowski that some reinforcements are needed.The Phillies (57-51) have lost all four series since the break to drop six back of Atlanta in the NL East and it’s mostly due to an underwhelming offense.For the season, the Phillies rank 24th in average (.236), 30th in on-base percentage (.303), 18th in slugging percentage (.399) and 23rd in OPS (.702).Kyle Schwarber (.911 OPS) and Harper (.846) are having strong years and Brandon Marsh (.779) made the All-Star team, but Marsh is also slashing an ugly .103/.167/.179 since the All-Star break.Shortstop Trea Turner (.676) is perhaps the biggest culprit, producing nowhere near his career norms.Add in frustrating to maddening seasons from Bryson Stott (.717), J.T.

Realmuto (.664), Alec Bohm (.655) and Justin Crawford (.636), and it makes for a lineup that could lead to an early postseason exit.The Phillies have an incredible top three in their rotation in Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo, but last Friday’s 1-0 loss to the Yankees showed that elite pitching needs offensive help too.“We do need to be more consistent and put runs up,” manager Don Mattingly conceded.The challenge for Dombrowski and his staff is whether transformative bats are available this deadlin...