Diagnose Bryce Harper?

probably just him pressing too much at the plate. it's hard to top the year he lad last year and he's probably just overdoing himself trying to match or exceed what he did last year. I will say though, if he starts to click again in September the Nats might become the odd-on favorite to win it all

I don't pretend to know as much about hitting as he does....but he is pulling off the ball extremely bad this season. He's constantly off balance

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amazing for about the first 1.5 months

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It was really just a few weeks. He was hitting .323/.405/.855 (1.260) through April 24. Then went 2-8 against the Phillies, 0-11 against the Cardinals, and 3-13 against the Royals, before the Cubs decided not to pitch to him.

From that Phillies series through the end of May, he hit .189/.420/.326 (.747). Through yesterday, he hit .215/.372/.354 (.726).

A lot of it probably is mental. He's expecting to get nothing to hit, so tries to find that one pitch and destroy it. He's hitting fewer line drives and more fly balls.

But he's actually seeing more strikes this year than last, but swinging at many fewer, and not just marginal strikes. So, he's possibly being too selective.

One thing that really jumps out on his heat maps is that he did A LOT of damage last year on pitches up in the zone, but pitchers are owning him there this year, and he's not swinging at those pitches nearly as often.

It looks like a fascinating case study and I wish I had more time right now to digest it. Here are links to his 2015 and 2016 heat maps:

2015
2016

seems to be antsy at the plate. Not expecting to get much to hit. Which in reality shouldn't be the case. Murphy and Ramos are having great years, Werth and Rendon have played much better of late, Trea Turner is going to help that team etc...so in a way it's unbelievable that he has kinda struggled.

Murphy Ramos Werth and Rendon all have more hits than Bryce, not that it means much except you can deduce that they all see more pitches to hit than Bryce. shite they are 20 games over 500 kinda flying under the radar with him "struggling"

This was a really interesting article on Fangraphs yesterday. Basically, it says Harper isn't hitting the ball quite as hard this year, but even moreso he has been unlucky. His BAPIP is like .100 less than last year. Article also talks about how Harper's production last year was an extreme outlier compared to his batted ball velocity. So while Harper is great, 2015 Bryce may have been a bit flukish.

LINK

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Better yet, explain Daniel Murphy.

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I don't think some things can be explained.

Murphy, like Matt Carpenter, seems to have made a conscious change to his swing. Both have put the ball in the air and pulled the ball alot more over the past two years. It seems to be a good idea, since both are among the best hitters in baseball now.

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Trea Turner is going to help that team etc

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Even if all he does is get Ben Revere out of the top of the order. Ben Revere and his .260(!) OBP have started 55 games at leadoff (and 5 at 2). Replacing Michael Taylor and his .274 OBP (30 starts at leadoff, 8 at 2). But they sure do look like leadoff hitters, right Dusty!?