Bryce Harper’s reaction to striking out in spring training is really important
Bryce Harper cares.
Like, he really cares.
The Philadelphia Phillies star is so serious about baseball, even when it doesn’t count. The world saw that on Monday when he got mad about striking out in a spring training game. The Phillies still won by a landslide, the strikeout can’t hurt his regular-season slash line, and this obviously has no bearing on his history-making contract, but he still cared.
And that’s awesome.
It’s also the reason you’ll see the Phillies break their postseason drought sooner rather than later, maybe even this year. That’s what Harper’s been working towards in so many ways, from his on-field performance, to mentoring Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott, to pressuring his front office to sign the biggest free agents and improve the farm system.
Harper carried the Phillies offense last year and MLB in slugging, OPS, OPS+, and tied for the lead in doubles to win his second MVP and Silver Slugger awards. But he’s not content to rest on the laurels of his previous achievements and secure paycheck, nor can he sit back, relax, and let his new heavy-hitting teammates Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos have all the fun.
Bryce Harper taking spring training seriously is why the Phillies will end their postseason drought
When Harper was in the NL MVP hunt last summer, he turned off comments on his Instagram because people were being too supportive. He didn’t want to lose focus:
“I like stuff that gets me going more. Makes me work and makes me the best version of myself.I just want to win. That’s all I want to do.”
And when he won NL MVP, he had one word to describe the accomplishment: “Hungry.”
It’s that hunger that makes him angry about what others see as meaningless spring training strikeouts. That insatiability will drag the Phillies out of mediocrity and end a decade-long postseason drought.
And here’s a not-so-bold prediction: by the time Harper retires, that hunger will be the reason the Phillies have at least one more World Series ring.
