Bryce Harper has not been a favorite in the Philadelphia Phillies’ front office lately. Dating back to Dave Dombrowski’s comments last year that Harper was no longer “elite,” the clubhouse cold war may have added another chapter on Tuesday when Harper said the Phillies need help at the trade deadline. With the Phillies having lost 8 of their last 11 games, he may not have been wrong. But it was clearly not his remark to make, and interim manager Don Mattingly made that abundantly clear.

“Guys want to be a GM for what you need without a real understanding of where the organization is, exactly where this thing goes not only this year, but moving forward,” Mattingly said, per Foul Territory on X. “Players like being GMs and making calls and spending other people’s money. I’ll just let it go at that. I mean, Dave has been doing this a while. He’s never really backed away from trying to get guys. We’re trying to get better. We’re trying to get better at the deadline.”

The Phillies’ recent streak of poor baseball continued in Miami. They entered the series ready to clash with the Marlins, who were reeling from 12 straight losses at the time. The Marlins swept the Phillies on Wednesday, as Philadelphia blew its six-run lead.

Amid bouts of struggle at the plate, the Phillies lineup had sparked during the series finale. However, the pitching was a letdown, as the Marlins capitalized on Jesus Luzardo and an overtaxed bullpen to win the game 8-6.

The damage started early when Luzardo surrendered a homer to Heriberto Hernández. Having exhausted the best of his relievers on the last two days, Mattingly had Seth Johnson inheriting a seventh with runners on first and second. He gave up the tying run as Xavier Edwards drove in two RBI single. Then, Jonathan Bowlan allowed the eventual winning home run to Griffin Conine in the next frame. It capped off yet another disappointing series for the Phillies.

In fact, while addressing Harper’s remarks, Mattingly said those comments were not a reflection of what every player was thinking.

“Am I bothered? No. I just don’t like it for the fact of what I’ve been saying – that we don’t like our players that are here. I just don’t,” Mattingly reportedly said. “I think you’re always trying to get better. You should always incrementally try to get better, no matter who you are. (Even) if you’re the Dodgers, and you’ve won two straight (championships). We’re trying to get better in different ways.”

As Mattingly said, the Phillies aim to get better. After losing 1-0 on Tuesday, Harper thinks trade deadline moves are the way to go.

“I think we need some help,” Harper said. “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.”

Bryce Harper is slashing .252/.357/.491 with a .848 OPS this season. His production has significantly dropped in July, as he drove only two homers compared to last month’s seven.