PHILADELPHIA — After playing the outfield every day for 10 seasons, Bryce Harper always figured he would need to adjust to being a designated hitter, especially as it evolved from a temp job to one that he may hold down through at least the All-Star break.
But the Phillies star probably didn’t expect it to turn him back into a self-conscious teenager.
“I never wanted to be in that mode of, ‘Oh, he’s in the clubhouse,’ ” Harper said the other day before a game in Seattle. “It’s like that young 19-year-old. If I’m in the clubhouse and my team’s playing, it’s like, ‘Oh no, somebody’s going to walk in here and I’m going to get yelled at.’ Which, I know, it’s not going to happen. But it’s still that mentality of wanting to be out there for my guys.”
Harper laughed, knowing how ridiculous that sounds. There’s something refreshing, even a little bit endearing, about a $330 million superstar, one of the faces of baseball, fretting over a potential scolding for not being on the bench during a game. But Harper is right, of course, that nobody with the Phillies, certainly not manager Joe Girardi, minds one iota.
They’re just thankful that he’s playing at all.
Harper hasn’t manned right field since April 16 because of an achy feeling in his right elbow. He hasn’t so much as played catch since April 27. Team doctors initially diagnosed a mild strain in the flexor mass, a bundle of muscles and tendons in the forearm near the elbow.
A visit Thursday in Los Angeles with preeminent orthopedic surgeon Neal ElAttrache revealed a small tear in the ulnar collateral ligament, an injury that is prevalent among pitchers and often necessitates the procedure known as “Tommy John” surgery. Harper will get an injection Sunday. He won’t try to throw for four more weeks.
But Harper feels pain only when he throws. Because swinging a bat doesn’t require the overhand motion that tends to put stress on the ligament, he said doctors have assured him that he can’t do more damage by continuing to hit. And so he has, thanks to the overdue arrival of the DH in the National League.
Instead of going on the injured list, which would have been his fate before this season, Harper has started every game for the Phillies. (He’s expected to sit out Sunday after the injection.) Through Thursday night, when he doubled, homered, and drove in three runs in a 9-7 victory at Dodger Stadium, he was batting .319 (29 for 91) with eight doubles, six homers, and a .967 on-base-plus-slugging.
Just don’t go thinking it has come easy for him.
“It’s a lot different than anything I’ve ever done in my life,” Harper said. “I’m trying to learn what kind of works for me. Not swinging too much where my hands hurt. Not watching too much video where I’m going crazy, because I’ve never been the video-type person. It’s whatever works for you to be the best hitter you can.”
Indeed, being a DH is harder than most people think, even for hitters who are used to it. When David Ortiz, the greatest DH of ‘em all, retired after the 2016 season, he warned Hanley Ramírez, his likely DH successor with the Boston Red Sox, of the challenge he would face.
“Honestly,” Ramírez said a few years ago, “he told me, ‘Some days you’re going to get crazy. Because all you can do is hit, and when things aren’t going good, what can you do?’”
As a right fielder, Harper said, he’s able to forget about a frustrating at-bat by chasing down a fly ball in the gap or making a strong throw to a base. He described the mentality as, “If I’m not going to get a hit, nobody’s going to get a hit,” and it has served him well. He may never win a Gold Glove, although he has saved eight runs more than the average outfielder over his career.
But what’s a DH to do after a tough at-bat? Nothing but stew until his spot in the order comes up again.
“I actually think he’s handled it really well,” Girardi said. “He stays on the bench. Before he hits, he hits [in the cage] a little bit. It’s not an easy adjustment for a guy that’s an everyday player on the field. But it’s one that we need him to make to the best of his ability.”
The adjustment for Harper has been about more than merely finding a suitable between-at-bats routine. As much as anything, DH’ing is an individual pursuit, which can sometimes feel unnatural within the context of a team sport.
Growing up, Harper’s talent separated him from most of his peers. In 2009, he even took his GED, left high school after two years, and enrolled in junior college to face older competition. He was a phenom in every sense, making it nearly impossible to blend in. His best chance was to be a supportive teammate, and that meant being involved in the game even from the bench.
But as a DH, there’s often a benefit to retreating to the clubhouse to take extra swings in the batting cage or watch video of a lefty reliever who may come into the game in the later innings. Harper appreciates that reality. It just feels, in his words, selfish.
“I talked to Jimmy Rollins the other day actually, just going back and forth with him, and it’s like, it’s OK to be selfish on this side of the ball and understand that you need to be,” Harper said. “It’s OK. It’s not a bad thing. That’s hard for me to hear because I want to watch the game, I want to be around the guys. I never want to miss somebody making a great play, not be able to be like, ‘Hey, nice job.’ But you get to the point where you’re a little selfish because it’s the only way you can help.”
Harper’s desire to remain in the dugout throughout the game is so strong that he agreed to an extended mic’d-up segment on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball on April 24. He was scheduled to join the telecast for the third inning but stayed on through much of the rest of the game, removing his earpiece and microphone only when it was time to prepare for an at-bat.
“Maybe I watched a little too much of the game that night,” Harper said, referring to his having gone 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in a 1-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. “I get in trouble with myself because I want to support my teammates. But at the same time, I want to be able to control everything that I can on the offensive side. Watch the game, but also prepare the best that I can.”
Harper is beginning to understand that. He’s spending less time in the dugout between at-bats. He’s making better use of video.
Nick Castellanos has replaced Harper in right field, and although he and left fielder Kyle Schwarber are considered below-average defenders, the Phillies haven’t considered anyone other than Harper in the DH spot. That’s how large No. 3 looms in the three-hole.
Yet Harper can’t seem to shake a certain feeling.
“I don’t feel like I’m doing enough,” he said. “I was saying to [catcher] J.T. [Realmuto], ‘I’ve got to do more, I’ve got to do more.’”
For at least another month, hitting will be all that Harper can do. And to the Phillies, that’s more than enough.
