It's hard to imagine that the same Bryce Harper who made us fall in love all over again for his Home Run Derby heroics is also a player flirting with baseball's "Mendoza Line."
Harper wrapped up the first half with a career-low .214 batting average. That's 63 points lower than his career average and more than 100 points lower than his .319 average in 2017.
According to Elias Sports and ESPN, Harper will be the first All-Star starter to bat below .220 in 30 years, long before Harper was born.
Bryce Harper is hitting .214 and will be starting the All-Star Game for the NL tonight. The last time a position player started the All-Star Game after posting a BA below .220 in the first half was in 1988, when Terry Steinbach did so after hitting .217. (h/t @EliasSports)
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 17, 2018It's just the latest reminder that Harper has almost nowhere to go but up in the second half of the season.
The person most aware of that is Harper.
"I look up there and see my average as well, and I look up there and go, 'Aw man, well that sucks,'" Harper said Monday. "But I look over a little bit to the right side of that and see 23 homers and (54) RBIs and 80 walks and runs scored and stuff like that. I don't know.
"Should I be hitting .300 or .280? Yeah, absolutely. But I guess I am where I'm at, and hopefully the only way I can go is up."
Follow Brian Tinsman and 106.7 The Fan on Twitter.
