Should Bryce Harper bat lead off? It's an interesting question that was posed by Joe DeCamara on today's 94WIP Morning Show.
"He's got three home runs and his on-base percentage is still near .400," DeCamara said on Friday.
"I don't think Rob Thomson will do it, but I think Rob Thomson should absolutely be thinking about," DeCamara continued. "If Bryce Harper's power doesn't come back, wouldn't you want a guy who gets on base more prolifically than anyone on the team to be the table setter? If he can't hit home runs why bat him three, why not bat him one?"
Since returning from offseason Tommy John surgery (much earlier than expected), Harper is slashing .290/.386/.400 in 56 games. While the sample is small, Harper has just three home runs and 23 RBIs this season and his .400 slugging percentage would be the lowest of his career, since he slugged .423 in 100 games in 2014.
According to Baseball Reference, Harper's hard hit percentage, or HardH%—the percent of balls in play with an exit velocity of 95+ MPH—is just 42.0 percent, a number that has previously been between 47.9 and 50.7 percent throughout his tenure as a Phillie.
The Phillies have played around with their leadoff hitter all season, giving Kyle Schwarber, Bryson Stott and Trea Turner cracks at it.
Is it Harper's turn?
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