Bryce Harper would one day hit a home run again. That was a given, even though the Phillies first baseman played despite sore elbows and wrists. But the days turned into a week and the weeks turned into a month and of course it became a topic of conversation.
Last Sunday in Miami, he hit a long fly ball to left that bounced off the wall for a double. Another foot or so and it would have been a home run.
“Man, I’m taking every hit right now,” he said after the game. “Obviously, home runs are going to come. I know it’s been a while. But I’ve hit some good hits and gotten some good results. So I just have to keep going.”
The very next night, back at Citizens Bank Park, he missed again by a whisker. This time, convinced he had hit against the Rays, he didn’t run out of the box and was only able to get in a single hit when the ball bounced off the right outfield wall.
On Tuesday, incredibly, it happened again. This time, he had rounded the bases before the umpires convened and ruled – correctly – that a fan had reached over the fence and touched the ball. He later admitted he was a little baffled. “I don’t understand why the ball isn’t flying,” he said.
“Eventually” it finally happened on Saturday, when the Phils celebrated a thrilling 6-4 comeback win against the Mets. And the timing couldn’t have been better.
He hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, his first blowout since August 9 in Arizona, ending a 30-game, 113-at-bat drought, the second-longest of his career. He followed that up with a two-run home run in the sixth inning, bringing the Phillies within one and putting them in position to pull away the victory in the seventh inning.
“It was fun,” he said after the game. “I got two shots that I could handle and was able to get the job done.”
However, he dismissed the notion that breaking that streak could have any special significance. “It is what it is,” he said. “I’d go 200 more at-bats, 100 at-bats, without hitting a single one. I’m good at hitting. We win games. Of course I want to hit home runs. But I’ll take the doubles. I’ll take the singles. Anytime we can win a game. That’s the most important thing.”
“It was a good atmosphere. It was like a playoff atmosphere. It was like a big hit situation. We have a lot of goals in mind. We want the best record and home-court advantage. We want to win the division. Those are all things we can do. We want to keep that going.”
Manager Rob Thomson doesn’t want to make any predictions, but he wouldn’t be surprised if Harper went on a little home run spree.
“I said last week that these big power guys (home runs) are coming in droves,” he said. “So I had a feeling a lot was coming and pretty soon. He’s been getting his hits. Lots of production.
“(Coach) Mike Calitri and I commented on it every day. He was throwing the balls right back. About three or four a game. And that showed me he had a real handle on them. And he used the whole field. When he does that, he’s on the field and I think his swing is in good shape.”
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