Heading into Thursday afternoon's game against Milwaukee, Bryce Harper was hitting .150 the previous seven days, .190 the previous 14 and .198 the previous 28. All players go through slumps, but when it's the Phillies 13-year, $330 million dollar franchise player—it stands out even more.
Related: Bryce Harper: 'I gotta be better, everybody knows that'
Harper's season average was at .220 through 42 games, with a .368 on-base percentage—all out of the three-spot in the lineup. Gabe Kapler made a couple of lineup changes before the Phils series finale against the Brewers—the most noticeable was Harper hitting second and Jean Segura third.
Looking to split the series with Milwaukee, here's how we'll line up on #ThrowbackThursday. #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/YOg3DaUCD9
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 16, 2019"Really just wanted to provide a spark to the offense," Kapler said pregame. "We've had some successes. We've had some dry spells. We just want to give ourselves an opportunity to click on all cylinders and just kind of made sense to shake it up a little bit and give guys a fresh perspective and a new look."
In 178 career games in the two-spot when he was a National, Harper hit .250 with a .328 on-base percentage, .442 slugging percentage and .770 OPS. All of those statistics are the lowest amongst his numbers when batting first, third and cleanup.
"It could very well be that he ends up back in the three-hole in the lineup in the next couple of days," Kapler said. "It might change up the routine ever so slightly for our guys and maybe that helps us get on track."
It appears Harper is close to breaking out of his slump anyway. He snapped an 0-15 drought Wednesday with a double and nearly hit a home run to one of the deepest parts of Citizens Bank Park. On top of that, his defense in right field remains sensational—making four highlight reel catches in this home series against the Brewers.
"The one thing that I think that we all need to do—and when I say we, I mean everybody in the clubhouse—is to remind ourselves that the best hitters in baseball have prolonged stretches of struggles and when you're Bryce Harper, the spotlight is especially bright," Kapler said. "He's especially equipped to handle this. His strength is unique in that way. The spotlight has never bothered him. The criticism has never bothered him. And what we've seen, which is really unusual, is that it has not impacted the other parts of his game. In fact, it may be elevating the other parts of his game.
"He's going to come out of the struggle. He's going to produce for us in whatever lineup spot we put him in. And the fact that he's an all around baseball player and teammate is really standing out when he's struggled like he has."
Harper-Mania will be back before you know it. It's only a matter of time.
