While Sunday afternoon’s Grapefruit League matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays was supposed to be about Nick Castellanos’ debut, it has quickly turned into the Bryce Harper show.
The reigning National League MVP took a slider from new Blue Jays starter Yusei Kikuchi in the top of the first inning and promptly hit it over the wall at TD Ballpark:
In his next at-bat, Harper turned a cutter from Kikuchi into a two-run home run, his second bomb of the day:
Not to be outdone, Phillies shortstop Didi Gregorius homered for the second consecutive day in the top of the fourth inning:
After a disappointing 2021 season, Gregorius if off to a red-hot start in Spring Training, with Phillies Nation‘s Nathan Ackerman noting that the veteran shortstop currently has a 1.212 OPS.
Of course, if your name is Vladimir Guerrero, you are required to homer every time you play against the Phillies. Last year’s American League MVP runner-up did take Bailey Falter deep in the top of the first inning Sunday: