Harper is helped along by designated advisor Rollins
PHILADELPHIA » To move forward, Bryce Harper needed to have a conversation with Jimmy Rollins to accept the role of designated hitter.
Harper has been the Phillies’ DH — at times, grudgingly — since hurting his throwing elbow eight starts into the season in right field. But the reigning National League MVP could still hit, and if he doesn’t field again this season that’s more than enough to help the Phillies win games.
“It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world,” manager Rob Thomson said Saturday. “But we certainly like his defense. It would be great to have him back being able to play defense.”
Thomson’s best information now is Harper is a couple of weeks from testing the elbow playing catch.
At that point the Phillies will determine what the best plan is for Harper going forward.
There is no question where
Harper is when he steps up to the plate.
Harper went 1-for-2 Saturday with a walk against Madison Bumgarner, the kind of breaking ball pitcher he typically carves up. In the eighth inning he added a base hit and scored the final run in a 4-0 victory over the Diamondbacks.
It was his 44th game as DH. In that time Harper has 62 hits in 176 at bats (.352 BA) with 16 doubles, one triple, 14 home runs, 38 RBIs and a 1.084 OPS. Harper also has scored 36 runs.
Earlier in the week he credited Rollins for helping him get a handle on the mental aspect of life strictly as the DH, and how it’s helped him change his mind about the role he previously loathed.
“I was so against the DH and now I’m so for the DH,” Harper said on Sirius Radio. “It was definitely tough at the beginning because I think everybody knows that I love to play on both sides of the ball and be in the game in all circumstances. I mean, I like to be
out in right field, throwing guys out, making plays for my pitchers and hitting the ball as well. So, it was kind of an adjustment for me. A big adjustment for me to kind of find my routine and what works for me.
“I sat down with Jimmy Rollins and he was able to do it in
Chicago for a little bit and he was telling me stories about their guys and how they kind of did it. He helped me a lot with the mental mindset of that, being able to know that I can help my team on one side of the ball at least.”
Batting DH won’t make it any easier for Harper to repeat as
MVP. No DH has won the honor, although last season Shohei Ohtani claimed the AL MVP after drilling 46 homers, driving in 100 runs and striking out 156 in 130 innings as a starting pitcher with a 3.18 earned run average.
Then again, there’s a first time for everything.