I read an article over the All-Star break telling the readers that Bryce Harper was carrying this team into the All-Star break. I immediately thought that the writer must not be paying attention to Phillies games. While Harper has been playing ok, he didn’t make the All-Star team, and even if he did, he probably would have spent that time at home with family.
Looking at the Baseball-Reference.com player tracker tool, shows that Jean Segura has a 2.8 WAR on the season, and next is JT Realmuto. Bryce Harper is 5th on the team in the WAR category. Hardly one that you can say is ‘carrying this team.’ The fact is that even Rhys Hoskins is batting better with more RBI (55) and HR (20) than Bryce Harper who has (15 HR and 34 RBI) this season up to now.
How then do you see such misleading information as it plastered all over MLB that Bryce Harper is ‘the man’ in Philly? That is a very good question. Maybe he has good contacts within the press that write good things, and I don’t want to sound like I am picking on Harper, but it’s a confused press that I am actually writing about.
The Phillies have scored four runs, all of which have been driven in by Travis Jankowski.
— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) July 16, 2021
Even a tweet last night by Phillies beat reporter Matt Been, it basically said, a couple of players, Travis Jankowski and Ronald Torreyes are powering this offense in the past couple games, and he is absolutely right. How about Brad Miller with 3 HR and 5 RBI in a game the other day, helping in winning it for the Phils. No, I have to pick a bone on that MLB headline that Bryce Harper is carrying this team. It’s the lessor known names stepping up for this team almost every game now.
Last night after Game 1 of the doubleheader (Phils won Game 1). Bryce Harper went (1-3 with no RBI in Game 1) didn’t play in Game 2 and the official explanation is he was ‘dehydrated.’ Really? A guy who has played for years and is from Las Vegas, is out cause he felt dehydrated? I think even Phillies fans should begin to question Joe Girardi at some of this press explanations.
So we were up over .500 then back down to that number by the end of the night with the terrible 7-0 loss to the Marlins. I don’t want to hear ‘well at least they won one.’ This is just bad baseball. I was even thinking of going to this doubleheader and I am glad I didn’t. I can’t stand watching a Jekyll and Hyde baseball team. Unfortunately, that is what this team is.
