Here are ex-Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper's stats in Tuesday night's game in Philadelphia: 3-for-4 with three home runs and six RBI. And here are another ex-Nats outfielder Juan Soto's stats to begin the season for the Yankees: 10 hits in 24 at-bats with a double, a homer and 4 RBI, plus four walks.
Kevin Sheehan relays in a story in the Athletic on Wednesday that Soto's relationship deteriorated with the Nationals leaked him turning down a large contract offer, that he never wanted to leave D.C. and that he was crushed when he was traded to the San Diego Padres.
The Athletic also wrote about Harper on Wednesday, and him defying expectations. The story paints Harper as a superstar and a clutch one at that. And he has been that with Philadelphia for the last few years.
"Neither of whom are with the Nats organization," Sheehan said about the superstars who walked out the door (or were shown it) in D.C. "... But it really does speak to a bit of the small-town nature of the Washington Nationals in the big leagues.
"There is definitely a big separation, I'm not saying that it hasn't been obvious all along, but it's not like Washington is Milwaukee. It's not a small market team. Washington is a Top 10 major metropolitan market in the country, but, man, to lose players like that over the last couple few years... we've had a small-town nature to a lot of the teams in town. It stinks really."