PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper entered the on-deck circle as a potential tying run on Monday night with two outs in the 10th inning. With backup catcher Garrett Stubbs in the dugout, he found Whit Merrifield, one of the Phillies’ only rookies.
“Man,” Stubbs said, “you’re going to want to see this.”
Normally, when Harper hits, time stops at Citizens Bank Park. That’s an unfair expectation when the greatest in a sport has a 30% success rate. That’s what’s so special about Harper. Time and time again he has met the highest expectations.
He ended Monday’s game with five strikeouts.
“Obviously, that didn’t work out,” Stubbs said. “It doesn’t always work. But it always feels like it does.”
That’s Harper. He started the season with no hits in 11 at-bats, then hit three homers in Tuesday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds in a 9-4 win, something they’ll remember here for the absurdity. Harper, wearing a red ski mask, broke the chilly night with a grand slam in the seventh inning. It was the first time all season the Phillies (2-3) could relax.
Harper hat trick ends with grand slam#ringingthebell pic.twitter.com/jjUSIWvTEZ
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2024
What makes their performance so good is that Ricardo Pinto, who last appeared in a major league game five years ago, didn’t arrive at the ballpark until the third inning because his pitcher was a long way from New York He hit traffic on a 350-mile drive from Rochester, State, pitching the final four innings. save.
“That’s a lot cooler than three home runs,” Bryson Stout said. “We didn’t even know he was here.”
“That’s a baseball player,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s like the American Legion.”
“There’s definitely an aura of hardship about him,” Stubbs said.
But this was Harper’s night. His six RBIs tied a career high. His home runs traveled a total of 1,209 feet. He is the fifth Phillies player this century to hit three home runs in a game. (The others are Brad Miller, Jason Voss, Ryan Howard and Mike Liberthal.)
“That’s what great players do,” Thomson said. “They had a big night like this. We needed it. That major, everybody was relieved. That was huge.”
It’s been nine years since Harper last hit three home runs. He was 22 years old and just starting his MVP season. Harper has a photographic memory for hitting. What does he remember about that game against the Marlins?
“Tom Koehler,” he said.
Yes. Kohler allowed all three home runs.
“I thought maybe June,” Harper said. “No, May 7th.”
That was May 6, 2015. closure.
“Left field,” Harper said. “Right field, right field? I think I went over Ichiro’s head into the bullpen.”
His sequence is correct. The first boat flies over Ichiro and enters the National Park’s Visitor Cowshed.
Harper recalled the last detail.
“JT caught it that day,” Harper said.
“Don’t remind me,” said now teammate Realmuto.
The Phillies were certain all day that they wouldn’t play Tuesday night, when temperatures were in the mid-40s. Thomson ran his bullpen Monday night as if he expected rain on Tuesday. Players milled around the clubhouse in the afternoon. If the game is postponed, Pinto may never be added to the roster. That’s something Philly didn’t tell him. “I was ready to pitch today,” Pinto said. Meanwhile, batting practice takes place indoors. Stout exchanges blows with Harper.
“I watched him in the cage,” Stout said. “I told him I’d take the credit because I told him to stand up straighter. And he hit three home runs. It felt like he was doing something every day. It gets to the point where you just Thinking, ‘Well, why am I surprised? It just happened.'”
That’s why after Harper’s last at-bat two pitches, Stout turned to Kevin Long. He told the hitting coach that Harper would go deep on third down.
“It’s been done before,” Long said.
Harper had a comprehensive comeback against veteran left-hander Brent Suter, who held him hitless in four career at-bats. “Even though I was out 3-2,” Harper said, “I still felt like I was hitting the ball pretty well.” He hit a sinker.
“I think everyone is… obviously, you don’t want to say looking forward to it because that would be crazy,” Stout said. “But when crazy things happen, it’s not surprising. So he’s special.”
Bryce Harper interviews after hitting three home runs. (Bill Streicher/USA Today)
It’s been an uneven start to the season because this is the Phillies and that’s what they do. Harper is the pacesetter; whenever he panics, something is wrong. He missed most of the final 10 days of spring training. When the team left Florida, he wasn’t happy with his swing. Despite the poor results, he started the season feeling better about his hitters.
One game—even an extraordinary one—can’t fix that. But Philly can laugh. They won a game that started with Spencer Turnbull and ended with Pinto, who replaced Connor Brogdon. They rescued an overburdened bullpen.
They witnessed another feat from Harper.
After his second homer but before his third of the night, Harper scorched the ball to center field. Reds center fielder Will Benson caught the sinking line in the gap like a snow cone. Harper pulled off his helmet and muttered something angrily.
Stout thinks this is typical of Harper.
That’s him,” Stout said. “Already had two home runs. At-bat, guy got Willie Mays to catch the ball. He was more angry about it than anything else. Hats off to him. He put it all behind him and moved on to the next at-bat. ball.”
Harper laughed at this.
“You have two, you want three,” Harper said. “You get three, you want four. Right? That’s the mentality. I’m not happy with one, two, three or whatever. I want to go out there and I hope I can do that every night. That’s exactly what I expect from myself. I know the same goes for my teammates. I’m definitely happy with the experience I had this night. I just want to move on and turn the page.”
He will use the same bat in Wednesday’s game. “Oh, yes,” Harper said. He might don the red ski mask again.
“I think we all would, yes,” Harper said.
It’s miserable outside. After all, it’s worth playing. Harper adds to his legacy in Philadelphia. He’ll remember that feeling – being so focused on every pitch. What will he still want to remember about that three-homer night 20 years from now?
“Hopefully,” Harper said, “this is the beginning of us winning. You know? That would be cool.”
(Top photo: Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
