This must have been how he drew it up all along.
When Bryce Harper went under the knife for Tommy John surgery last November, he probably had a vision for how his recovery would play out. Doctors told him he shouldn’t expect to be back in the lineup before the All-Star Break. After that, it would take a while for him to get his timing back and build up to full strength. Best-case scenario, he probably hoped that he’d be back to his old self by September, just in time to help the team in its push for the playoffs.
As we all know by now, he returned to the lineup much earlier than expected, making his debut on May 2 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. This was less than six months after a surgery that typically takes nine months or longer for normal athletes to recover from.
But if Harper has proven anything over his career, it is that he is far from “normal.” So we shouldn’t be surprised that his power stroke has returned ahead of schedule as well.
Harper hit his fifth home run in the last seven games — including his third straight — Wednesday afternoon when his screaming line drive clanged off the foul pole to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth against the Giants. It was his fourth hit of the day exceeding 110 miles per hour, a feat only bettered once, by the Yankees’ Aaron Judge, since Statcast started tracking exit velocities in 2015.
So far this month, Harper is batting .333 with 25 hits, seven home runs and 16 RBIs in 20 games. He is slugging .707 with an OPS of 1.127. In the last seven games he’s been even hotter, going 12-for-26 (.462) with a slugging percentage of 1.077 and an OPS of 1.665.
He is officially on fire.
Was there ever any doubt that Harper would return to this level of play? Maybe for some. Nearly two and a half months after his debut, Harper had hit a total of three home runs and was in the midst of a career-high homerless stretch of 38 games. He would eventually go 166 plate appearances without a homer. Despite slashing .290/.384/.397, he just wasn’t hitting for power, and many fans were growing concerned that he wasn’t the same player that had sent Citizens Bank Park into a state of bedlam last October.
But Harper himself was never worried about the home run shortage. “I’ve just got to stay the course, right?” Harper told reporters after an 0-for-3 night against the Mets on June 24. “I can’t try to do it because if I try to do it, then I’m going to punch out and not get on base. I’ve got to take my walks. I’ve got to keep getting on base and have good days. I’ve never really struggled with power in my career, I can say. It’s not me talking great about myself, but I just feel like the power will come, those numbers will come.”
Sure enough, he was right. Some of those long fly ball outs on the warning track and doubles in the alley that he was hitting earlier in the season have started turning into home runs, just like he knew they would.
Coincidentally or not, Harper’s love and passion for the game has never been on such full display as it has been during this recent power surge. The Phillies’ trip to Williamsport, where they played the Washington Nationals as part of the Major League Baseball Little League Classic, seems to have lit a spark in the two-time NL MVP.
There he was in the stands, watching the Media, Pennsylvania, Little League Team, pumping his fist and doing the team’s Rated PG-13 juggling celebration. There he was at the postgame, getting emotional as he told the kids how proud he was of them. And there he was in the ESPN booth, choking up when talking about how much he misses his own kids when he’s on the road.
Exactly how much fun is he having right now? Just watch his inside-the-park home run from Monday night, after which his immediate reaction was an impish smile and a breezy shrug. Maybe he couldn’t believe his good fortune to get the big bounce off the late David Montgomery’s wall that allowed him to score. But it must have been in part because he couldn’t believe his own talent, like Michael Jordan in the 1992 NBA Finals.
Not that the game is just for fun to Harper. The man is as intense and fiery a competitor as there is, a fact he has proven by playing through pain during most of this current streak. He’s been the DH in seven of the last 10 games in order to rest his ailing back, which manager Rob Thomson described to reporters as “a little stiff.” In Wednesday’s game, he had to be evaluated by the athletic trainer after fouling a ball off his knee, and later he got drilled by a pitch to his forearm — all before he hit the dramatic home run to tie the game.
But Harper insists that he’s good, hinting that he should be ready to return to first base soon. He knows that the team is much better defensively when he’s not the DH, and he’s determined to play through the aches and pains that come with the schedule.
Harper also knows that the most important stretch of the season is just about to begin. With 35 games to play, the Phillies have a 2 1/2 game lead for the final Wild Card berth. There are currently six teams vying for three spots. Up next they will continue their homestand with six more games against the 56-72 Cardinals and the 61-67 Angels — teams that will not be playing come October. If Harper can carry this current hot streak into September, the Phillies should be able to maintain the top Wild Card spot and host a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. After that, who knows what could happen.
For now, we know that Harper’s power appears to be back, and he’s looking more and more like the superstar that he is — at exactly the right time, as far as the Phillies are concerned.
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