Phillies star Bryce Harper needs to plug his controller back in after this exceptionally strange at-bat that resulted in a swingless strikeout.
The Philadelphia Phillies came out of the All-Star break hot, the way they had been trending coming into the break too (aside from dropping two against Miami). Climbing into one of the wild card spots in the MLB playoff race, the Phils won 3-of-4 against the Padres and took Game 1 of their series against the Brewers.
Even better, star slugger Bryce Harper finally saw some power against San Diego, hitting a home run in the doubleheader that Philadelphia swept. Things seemed to all be going the Phillies' way.
But you know the saying, to get a hit you've got to swing the bat? Yeah, Bryce Harper was not buying into that strategy on Wednesday night in Game 2 against Milwaukee.
In the bottom of the sixth inning as Brewers reliever Hoby Miller entered the game, Harper led off the inning. And the former MVP didn't take the bat off his shoulders on the first pitch… and then did the same on the second, third, fourth, and fifth, watching five straight pitches go by to build a full-count. He then didn't swing either — though he looked slightly more engaged — on the sixth pitch, which was called a strike to get wrung up for the first out of the inning.
It's one of the strangest at-bats you'll ever see in a July MLB game.
Phillies: Bryce Harper strikes out after taking 5 pitches in strange at-bat
It's truly impossible to figure what in the world Harper was doing here. If Milner had been having severe control issues throughout his season, it would've been one thing. But over his previous 13 outings dating back to mid-June, he'd allowed just one walk. Meanwhile, he's also posted a 2.37 ERA and 1.11 WHIP on the season.
And if that weren't enough, Harper approached the at-bat like he'd been watching Milner be unable to find the strike zone on Wednesday night. The only problem with that is that Harper was the first batter that the Brewers reliever had faced on the night.
This truly bizarre at-bat goes into what has been an equally bizarre return for Harper since he rejoined the lineup, going through the worst power outage of his career, hitting a home run on July 15 against the Padres, his first dinger since May 25. He also only has four total homers on the season.
If the Phillies can stay hot and in the wild card hunt, they'll forget about this strikeout quickly. This at-bat, however, is less than ideal.
