Harper Heating Up Again

After a protracted midseason slump, Bryce Harper is swinging a hot bat (CNN)

In the Washington Nationals' 5-3 win over the New York Mets yesterday, Bryce Harper enjoyed the first four-hit game of his career.   The way he's been hitting lately, it might not be too long before he does it again.

Over the past month, he's been one of the hottest hitters in baseball, in the same stratosphere as Mark Reynolds, Chase Headley, Adrian Beltre, and Giancarlo Stanton.   No exaggeration.  It seems that, at long last, Harper's summer swoon is finally over.  Baseball's LeBron James survived his first major league slump and has re-emerged as the budding superstar-in-the-making we all expected him to be.

Surely you still remember how well the 19 year-old freshman played during those first six weeks in the Show.  Following a strong showing in his much-anticipated big league debut, Harper took off and became a one man highlight reel.  He stole home against the Phillies, launched majestic home runs, and ran out every play like he had a bus to catch.  He dazzled us and spoiled us, but above all, he succeeded. In the first 40 games of his major league career, Harper hit for average (.307).  He hit for power (.553 SLG).  He drew walks, scored lots of runs, played good defense and was aggressive on the base-paths.  The five tool stud contributed in every facet of the game, and the spark he provided couldn't have come at a better time for his depleted Nationals, sans Michael Morse, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth for much of the first half.  Most of America was too busy falling head over heels for Mike Trout to notice, but this brash, cocky man-child was playing like an MVP candidate well on his way to putting together the best offensive season by a teenager since Tony Conigliaro's 1964 campaign.

But then Harper just flat-out stopped hitting.  His numbers tailed off at the end of June and continued to free-fall throughout July.  The skid didn't deter Harper's last minute selection to his first All-Star team as a replacement for Giancarlo Stanton, thus making him the youngest position player to ever appear on an All-Star roster.  The midsummer breather didn't rejuvenate his bat, though, as the young outfielder continued to struggle in the second half.  The strikeouts piled up, the frustrations mounted, and his power all but disappeared.  This famine of biblical proportions stretched deep into the dog days of August, and after taking an 0-for-5 against the Giants on August 15th his numbers hit rock bottom.  His once stellar seasonal averages had plummeted to .245/.321/.396.  How had that happened?  Over the previous two months, a span of 55 games, he batted .204/.273/.290 with just three home runs, 13 RBI and a whopping 56 strikeouts.  The pitchers had figured him out. He looked done.  Spent.  Like a dimming light bulb that had burned out under its own intensity.

Since then, he's shined.  While Trout's been fading down the stretch, Harper has kicked it into high gear. Re-entered beast mode, if you will.  Manager Davey Johnson rode out the storm, refusing to drop his struggling youngster/number two hitter down in the order, and that patience has paid huge dividends.  Since August 17th, Harper's batted a sizzling .344/.404/.715 while mashing eight big flies, producing ten multi-hit games and helping the Nationals lock up the NL East.  He's hitting for average.  He's hitting for power.  He's scoring tons of runs and driving them in, too. The only thing he's not doing is stealing bases; his last theft came all the way back on July 23rd.  His numbers have more or less returned to where they were at the All-Star Break. It might be too little, too late to push him past Todd Frazier and Wade Miley in the NL Rookie of the Year race, but if Harper can sustain his torrid hitting for a few more weeks his final numbers may be good enough to persuade the voters otherwise.

Don't bother asking Harper who he thinks should take home the trophy, though.  I think we all know how he would respond.