![]() Those aren’t quite Harper-esque power numbers, but if that were the equivalent of his spring training, things were looking good. He would go on to hit three home runs and six doubles in his first 20 games, good for a. Two games later, he hit his first home run. ![]() In his second game of the season, he went 3-for-3 with two walks and a double. But Harper being Harper, he didn’t struggle at all. ![]() No one would have been surprised or upset if Harper struggled to readjust in his first few games back. He accelerated his timeline by forgoing a rehab assignment, so when he came to bat against Julio Urías on May 2, it was his first in-game plate appearance since the World Series. He went under the knife last November and was back in the majors 160 days later, the fastest Tommy John recovery time in MLB history. The simplest explanation for Harper’s power outage is his rapid return from Tommy John surgery. The superstar told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com that he isn’t worried about his missing power, but he gave his batting helmet a different impression after an 0-for-3 showing against the Braves: By isolated power, this is easily the worst 26-game stretch of his career. His -0.3 WAR ranks 162nd out of 173 qualified players. 227/.342/.268 with four doubles, zero triples, and zero home runs. Five weeks later, the Reds sit on top of the NL Central and Ohtani is lapping the competition in WAR. The last time he hit a home run, the Reds had the worst record in the National League and Shohei Ohtani ranked 21st on the combined WAR leaderboards. It’s the longest home run drought of Harper’s career. Granted, I doubt many of those babies between zero and 34 days old have found their way to FanGraphs just yet, but the point remains: 34 days is a long time. So why am I talking about a two-time MVP as if there’s any chance you aren’t familiar with his accomplishments? Well, as hard as it is to believe for an old-timer like me, millions of people around the world hadn’t even been born the last time Harper hit a home run. Long story short, this Harper guy is one of the most fearsome power hitters of his generation. His maximum exit velocity has been in the top 10% of the league for seven years straight. 519 slugging percentage ranks 12th among active qualified batters, and his. Only nine players have hit more in that time. Indeed, Harper has hit 288 regular-season home runs and another 11 in the playoffs since making his big league debut. You might remember him from home runs like this 2019 walk-off grand slam or his rain-soaked, NLCS-clinching blast. ![]() The image you just scrolled past is a photograph of professional baseball player Bryce Harper. ![]()
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