Harper ditches No. 34, will wear No. 3 with Phillies

Bryce Harper is getting a new start with the Philadelphia Phillies in more ways than one.

The superstar outfielder will ditch his trademark No. 34 and wear No. 3 with the Phillies, the team revealed Saturday.

Harper wore No. 34 for his entire seven-year stint with the Washington Nationals. In 2013, the 26-year-old told USA Today's Jon Saraceno he chose that number to honor Mickey Mantle, who wore No. 7 with the Yankees. Harper explained that if No. 7 wasn't available, he wanted to wear digits adding up to Mantle's number.

The switch to No. 3 might stem from Harper's old number potentially being unavailable. While the Phillies haven't officially retired No. 34, it was taken out of circulation for the 2018 season to honor Cy Young Award winner Roy Halladay following his death in a 2017 plane crash.

Halladay was elected to the Hall of Fame in January, and the Phillies have discussed permanently retiring No. 34 in his honor, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.

Ironically, Harper will become the 34th player to wear No. 3 for the Phillies, according to Baseball-Reference. Hall of Famer Chuck Klein - who wore it on two occasions - as well as All-Stars Dale Murphy and Hunter Pence are among the other notable names to don the number in Philadelphia. David Lough was the most recent Phillie to wear it back in 2016.

The Phillies will officially introduce Harper at a press conference on Saturday afternoon.