The Philadelphia Phillies' offense has been frustratingly inconsistent this season, and a lot of that has to do with Bryce Harper's struggles at the plate. Harper has been mired in such a deep slump to the point where he got a buzz cut ahead of Monday's series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Perhaps Harper just wanted to change things up hair-wise, but based on a past incident, which saw him shave his beard amid a slump, there's reason to believe he was doing what he could to get out of his current funk.
“He’s frustrated,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He expects himself to produce. Right now, it’s off and on. The balance is a little bit off right now, and they’re pitching him tough.”
Unfortunately, Harper went 0-for-3 with a walk with his new look and the Phillies lost 3-2. Harper can only hope that the haircut will help him break out sooner rather than later.
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Bryce Harper went to extreme lengths to try and break out of prolonged slump
With that 0-for-3 game, Harper now has three hits in his last 19 at-bats, and all three of those hits came in one game. More alarmingly, he has 14 hits in his last 74 at-bats since April 21, slashing .189/.291/.324 with two home runs and eight RBI in that 19-game span.
Harper went from posting a .910 OPS in his first 22 games of the season and carrying this Phillies offense to being a well below-average hitter over the past 19 games and struggling to get anything going.
It goes without saying that for this Phillies team to get to where they want to go, Harper is going to have to play a huge role. When right, he's not only their best player, but he's a legitimate MVP candidate. Slumps happen all the time, but it's rare to see a player of Harper's caliber this lost for nearly three full weeks.
Phillies fans appreciate Harper doing what he can to try and break out of his slump, even if his new look makes him somewhat unrecognizable. Now, they just hope that results start to show themselves on the field sooner rather than later.