Harper’s future soon to be decided

His jersey hung on a hook at the only locker he has ever known, the home white with HARPER facing out to the clubhouse at Nationals Park.

Bryce Harper is supremely confident in his abilities as a baseball player. And yet his last homestand under his current contract with the Nationals is unsettling and emotional.

“If I walk into Nats Park as a visiting player?” Harper said. “That’s weird. And who wants to see that? That’s really weird.”

The story that, in some ways, has consumed the Nationals and dominated baseball talk is coming to a conclusion this week. Harper has the rest of this series against the Marlins at home, then three games in Colorado over the weekend to close it out, and he will be a free agent, finally.

“I think about other cities, but I love it here,” Harper said. “Am I in the plans, you know? I don’t know. It’s hard to think about, because it’s all you know, and then you think about it, it’s like, ‘Well, it could all be over in a second.’ It’s kind of crazy.”

Looking forward to free agency? Doesn’t sound like it.

“I’ve always said: If I’m in those plans, I’d absolutely love to be here,” Harper said. “But if I’m not, there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s nothing I can do. ... Am I in those plans? I have no idea.”

He’s not sure what to expect Wednesday in what could be his final home game with the Nationals.

“It’ll have to be emotional,” he said. “How could it not be?

“I know what it feels like to walk into the clubhouse as a Washington National and to walk into a playoff atmosphere with the Washington Nationals,” Harper said. “And I love it. I love every minute of it.”