It's time to take some criticism off Bryce Harper and redirect it so that he can succeed. Whether it's the front office taking stabs at the superstar or fans having a problem with the way he brushes his teeth, let's re-steer the passion that stems from his criticisms, and think about how he is actually being mismanaged.
Harper is still hitting like he is in his prime years, but unfortunately he's not getting the maximum amount of opportunity to help the Phillies. The two-time MVP leads all of Major League Baseball in plate appearances with two outs and no one on base. Harper is seldom given RBI chances. By the time he is up, it's too late to start a rally with him.
It begs the question: Why is Don Mattingly still forcing Harper to bat third in the lineup? Maybe it's time to switch up the Phillies order, and have Harper lead off.
Bryce Harper's career splits suggest that he should lead off for the Phillies
When Harper leads off an inning, he is batting .344 this season with five home runs and a 1.260 OPS. These numbers are across 33 games, so it's not a super small sample size. He is clearly comfortable setting the table. And not only that, these numbers are also better than Kyle Schwarber's when he was batting first.
With Schwarber thriving in the two-spot of the lineup, why can't Harper take that leap to lead off? Trea Turner has a .274 OBP this season while batting first. Harper is wasting away in the middle of a Phillies lineup that is not very strong — all the while someone else isn't getting the job done leading off the game.
Harper and Schwarber would be a great combination, but Harper needs to be in front. Think about how many more runs this team can score by making this one fix. Schwarber is a 50-home run threat, and he'd be even more dangerous if Harper was in front of him working counts. It's not hard to think about how much more production this team can see from one single change.
Mattingly already moved Turner out of the leadoff spot and it immediately worked during the series against the Padres (not so much against the Dodgers). Why not make another slight alteration to see how far this Phillies offense can go before the trade deadline?
For his career, Harper owns a career .908 OPS when he is the leadoff man. So basically, Mattingly wouldn't be reinventing the wheel. Harper is proven to be a strong leadoff hitter, so why the hesitancy?
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