Phillies’ Bryce Harper passes on day off, breaks out of the longest hitless streak of his career
Harper, who didn't have a hit since his 300th homer, snapped an 0-for-20 skid with a two-run double against the Padres.
SAN DIEGO — Bryce Harper stepped up to the plate in the fourth inning on Wednesday afternoon with a career-high 0-for-20 hitless streak. He hadn’t had a skid of five games without a hit since Sept. 11-17, 2016, when he was 23 years old and playing for the Washington Nationals.
His last hit was his 300th home run on Aug. 30. Manager Rob Thomson asked Harper if he’d like a day off. He didn’t entertain the idea.
» READ MORE: Bryce Harper hits 300 homers: How he got here and what’s next
“Absolutely not,” he said. “We’re in the middle of this thing. Trea [Turner, who is on the paternity list] is not here. So, we’ve got to go.”
The decision paid off. Harper hit a two-run double to center field off Padres starter Michael Wacha in the fourth inning to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead. He finished 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout in their 5-1 victory.
He said before the game that the key to breaking the hitless streak would be to stop chasing. He feels there is still work to do, in that regard.
“Felt good,” Harper said after his game on Wednesday. “Just got to keep going. Terrible at-bat against [Nick] Martinez there, swinging at pitches out of the zone again. So, I do that, hit .150 the last month, it won’t be good. So just got to keep going.”
Thomson can tell that his slugger is frustrated.
“Well, he’s not very happy,” he said, when asked how Harper acts when he’s in a slump. “But I don’t expect him to be because he’s such a competitor. It was good. He wanted to grind through it. And he did.”
Harper at first again
Harper started at first base, the first time he’s played back-to-back games there since Aug. 9-10, when he left after the fourth inning against the Nationals on Aug. 10 with back spasms.
“Once I start feeling better, I’m going to hopefully play it a little bit more,” Harper said. “And then we’ll see what we do.”
» READ MORE: The Phillies’ Bryson Stott felt like he was ‘swinging with one arm.’ Here’s how he fixed it.
Extra bases
The Phillies’ rotation will line up like this over the weekend against Miami at home: Cristopher Sánchez on Friday, Aaron Nola on Saturday, and Ranger Suárez on Sunday. The tentative plan is for Taijuan Walker and Michael Lorenzen to take Game 1 and 2 of Monday’s doubleheader against the Braves. Zack Wheeler will pitch Tuesday against the Braves, and Sánchez will pitch Wednesday. The “loose plan” is for the Phillies to use a five-man rotation with the fifth spot as a piggyback after the doubleheader. … Turner, who is on the paternity list, is expected to rejoin the Phillies on Friday. Turner has to be added back to the active roster, but it was unclear if he’d be with the team by then.