Nobody, not even relief pitcher Johnathon Papelbon, accused Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper of not hustling during the Chicago Cubs’ four-game sweep of the Nationals last weekend.
But Harper, the reigning National League MVP, did spend an inordinate amount of time just walking around Wrigley Field.
Not everybody on the Nationals was happy about it, but they weren’t blaming Harper, who had the bat taken out of his hands by Cubs pitchers.
In 19 plate appearances, Harper was 1 for 4 with 1 RBI, 13 walks, 1 hit by pitch and a sacrifice fly.
Sunday’s 13-inning loss to the Cubs was the most extreme example of Harper getting pitched around, when he became the first major-league player to reach base safely seven times without the benefit of a hit.
Nationals Manager Dusty Baker compared the Cubs’ strategy to the old “hack-a-Shaq” routine some NBA teams employed on Shaquille O’Neal, a notoriously poor free-throw shooter.
Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark wasn’t as diplomatic as his manager after holding the Cubs to one run over six innings Sunday.
“You can’t play scared,” Roark said. “This is a game. It’s not, ‘Here’s your free pass,’ you know? Sometimes it calls for that, but I think it’s scared baseball.”
Cubs Manager Joe Maddon didn’t have a comeback to the “scared baseball” comment, except to say Harper (.265 batting average, 10 home runs, 27 RBI,.432 on-base percentage) is a player you simply don’t want to mess with.
“Why tempt fate?” Maddon said. “If the other guy gets you, that’s fine. You have no problem with that.”
The other guy, first baseman Ryan Zimmerman, knocked Harper in once in Sunday’s 13-inning loss, but he left 14 runners stranded during the game, a major-league record.
“I can’t blame them for walking him,” said Zimmerman, who is hitting .236 with 12 RBI. “He’s one of the best, if not the best player on the planet right now. It doesn’t matter if it’s me behind him or anybody behind him, they’re going to take their chances with someone else. It’s up to me for the rest of the year to come through.”
How’s your dog?
Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo and Washington
rightfielder Bryce Harper have a lot in common. They are both left-handed power hitters who are among the best players in the game. Rizzo is a two-time all-star. Harper is a threetime all-star and last year’s NL MVP.
But Rizzo said there was nothing but silence when Harper was walked for the sixth time Sunday afternoon. He was also hit by a pitch. It was the 15th time Harper and Rizzo stood together at first base during the series.
“Honestly, we ran out of stuff to talk about,” Rizzo said. “We talked about everything. We talked about life, baseball, everything.”
Patience tested
Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper said he thought he could have walked a few more times in last weekend’s series with the Chicago Cubs if he had been more patient in Saturday’s game against Cubs pitcher John Lackey.
“I chased some bad pitches against Lackey the other day — he’s very deceptive with his stuff,” said Harper, who is second in the NL with 30 walks. “If I don’t swing the bat at all this series, I walk 16 times.”
Harper saw 27 pitches during seven plate appearances Sunday.
“It’s happened before to me — not at this level, but definitely when I was younger in high school, college, what-not,” Harper said. “They had a plan. They stuck with their plan, and unfortunately it worked.”