Bryce Harper’s future is shadow hanging over DC’s All-Star moment

WASHINGTON (AP) — By the time Bryce Harper gets to the plate at the All-Star Game, Max Scherzer could already be out of the game.

Harper is batting sixth in his fifth All-Star start, the lowest he has been in the National League lineup since the No. 9 spot in 2013. Scherzer getting the start against Boston’s Chris Sale is no surprise as the hometown ace, but Harper faces a much different dynamic knowing this could be the final time he’s honored on a big stage by Nationals fans when he trots out to center field on Tuesday night.

In a contract year that could be his last with Washington, Harper is hitting .214 with a .365 on-base percentage, .468 slugging percentage, 23 home runs and 54 RBIs.

That batting average is 60 points lower than the next-closest NL AllStar hitter, while his HR total is one shy of the league lead.

“I look up there and see my average as well, and I look up there and go, ‘Aw man, well that sucks,’” Harper said Monday, hours before taking part in the Home Run Derby. “But I look over a little bit to the right side of that and see 23 homers and (54) RBIs and 80 walks and runs scored and stuff like that. I don’t know.

“Should I be hitting .300 or .280? Yeah, absolutely. But I guess I am where I’m at, and hopefully the only way I can go is up.”

Harper reiterated it’s no secret he’s in the final year of his contract and brushed aside a question about trimming his beard last month when the New York Yankees came to town. But it’s a shadow hanging over the first All-Star festivities in Washington since 1969.

“Everybody knew that at the beginning of the year this could be possibly my last year in D.C.,” Harper said. “There’s no elephant in the room. Everybody knows that that’s a possibility. But I’m not really focused on that. I’m focused on what I can do to help the team win on a daily basis.”

Scherzer was a no-brainer choice given his 12 victories, 2.41 ERA, NL-best 182 strikeouts and the game being in Washington. NL manager Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers complimented New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom, who will get the ball second, but said the setting was the tiebreaker.

“It’s his city. It’s his ballpark,” Roberts said. “I’ve always tried to make things bigger than me and the club. And I think that Max, for the game of baseball, for our country, he’s the right guy to take the baseball.”