Phillies’ Bryce Harper Turns Heads With Surprising New Offseason Job

The Philadelphia Phillies head into the offseason facing questions about how to reshape a veteran roster after another disappointing postseason exit. The club’s next moves could determine whether its current core gets another chance to compete for a championship or whether more substantial changes are needed.

For his part, franchise slugger Bryce Harper immediately acknowledged that the team will look very different next year.

“On Friday, after the Phillies fell in the National League Wild Card Series, Bryce Harper said he expects the team to look ‘a lot different’ next year,” Cole Weintraub reported for NBC Sports Philadelphia. “He later clarified that he was referring, at least in part, to the number of players who can reach free agency this offseason.”

But while Philadelphia considers its next steps in roster construction, Harper has evidently found a new job to keep him busy in the offseason, in a setting that caused fans to take notice.

Philadelphia Phillies Superstar Bryce Harper Takes Coaching Role Immediately After Season Ends

A new video shared by the Instagram account PhillyCrew, and subsequently circulated on Reddit, shows Harper participating in a postgame handshake line at a youth baseball game with a report that he has taken on a coaching role with his son’s youth team in New Jersey.

The Phillies star appears to be enjoying time around the team in Marlton, New Jersey, offering a glimpse of a different side of his life away from Citizens Bank Park.

And the post drew attention from Phillies fans, with commenters focusing on what it might mean for young players to have one of baseball’s biggest stars around their team.

“That must be pretty awesome for those kids,” wrote one. “That’s probably one of the hardest parts of being famous — I’m sure it’s obviously super annoying for him to not even be able to go to the grocery store without dealing with a blitz of people, but to have your kids be surrounded with constant attention when you are there must suck.”

The moment offers a more personal counterpoint to the scrutiny Harper faces as the face of a franchise with championship ambitions. His presence at a youth game also suggests that, amid the attention surrounding his professional future and the Phillies’ offseason plans, family remains an important part of his life.

Philadelphia Phillies Face Major Offseason Roster Decisions

Harper’s coaching turn comes as Philadelphia weighs how to address a roster that fell short of expectations again. The Phillies have several decisions to make regarding players who could depart in free agency, while the approaching expiration of Major League Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement adds uncertainty to the broader offseason.

Key players like Alec Bohm, Luis Arraez, Adolis Garcia, Edmundo Sosa and Jose Alvarado are all set to become free agency and it seems unlikely that any of them will return after another brutal year for the Phillies.

Harper’s comments about a potentially different-looking team have added to the speculation, but it seems he is more focused on getting in some quality family time after being eliminated from the playoffs.

This article was originally published on Forbes.com