Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper has picked a bad time for a power outage.
Philadelphia Phillies outfielder/first baseman Bryce Harper has been far from bad in September, as he is batting .288 with a .362 on-base percentage this month.
However, what Harper has not done thus far in September is hit for power.
Harper has homered just once all month and has just four extra-base hits in September as a whole. In fact, the 33-year-old has homered just once since Aug. 26.
He's certainly picked a lousy time for a power outage.
The Phillies did manage to salvage a split in their weird two-game series with the Washington Nationals, winning 3-0 on Wednesday thanks to a dazzling effort from Zack Wheeler. But it was certainly no thanks to the offense.
For the second straight game, Philadelphia scored three runs on five hits. That was it. Yes, the Phillies did a tremendous job of working the count, drawing 13 walks. But the fact that they had 18 baserunners and had only three runs to account for it is maddening.
Is that all Harper's fault? Of course not, but he certainly isn't performing up to his standards right now.
In August, Harper slashed .333/.496/.573 with five home runs and eight doubles. Opposing pitchers could not figure out a way to consistently sit him down. And it's not like he's stopped getting on base in September, but the overall production has plummeted.
It is worth noting that Harper was nursing a bit of a knee issue early last month when he moved back to right field, so perhaps that is bothering him now. Or maybe he's just in a bit of a home run slump.
Whatever the case may be, the Phillies absolutely need more pop from Harper, especially with Kyle Schwarber — who went 0-for-4 Wednesday and is now in his third straight month with an OPS in the .700s — very clearly compromised.
A lot of things are going wrong for the Philadelphia at the worst possible time. The postseason is less than two weeks away, and the Phillies are not playing their best baseball. Far from it.
I don't believe in "peaking too early," but there is absolutely no question that Philadelphia looked like a very different ballclub a few weeks ago when it was busy winning 17 out of 21 games.
But now, the Phillies are heading in the opposite direction. We'll see if a four-game series with the New York Mets can get Harper and Co. back on the right track.
