PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies manager Rob Thomson gave Bryce Harper a “half-day” on Sunday.
Harper hit second, but he DH’d instead of playing first base.
“Maybe in between at-bats, he can get some extra work and hone his swing a little bit,” Thomson said before an 11-9 loss to the Diamondbacks in 10 innings.
The Phillies have won three consecutive series since the Mets swept them at Citi Field last month. They had an opportunity to sweep Arizona on Sunday, but Ranger Suárez put them in a 7-1 hole after four innings in his season debut. The Phils tied the game in the ninth, but Arizona scored three runs in the 10th.
The Phillies have won without getting much from Harper recently, until Sunday. He homered, singled, walked and scored twice. He hit a solo homer to left in the first to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
It was his first homer since April 18. It was his first multihit game since April 20.
“He’s really the last guy I worry about,” Thomson said.
But Harper isn’t happy. He is frustrated. He pointed to his at-bats in the ninth and 10th innings. In the ninth, he chased a couple pitches out of the zone before striking out looking. In the 10th with runners on first and second and one out, he flew out in front of the warning track in left-center field.
“Just frustrated I can’t come through right there,” he said. “Obviously, a good moment and a good opportunity right there. I just couldn’t get it done.”
Harper was batting .272 with five homers, 14 RBIs and a .910 OPS in 22 games through April 20. He is batting .170 with one homer, three RBIs and a .568 OPS in his last 12.
“I’m just frustrated on a bigger level,” Harper said. “I just want to come through for the team and play well. Obviously, I’ve been through ruts in my career and gone through ups and downs -- worse than what I’m on right now. But I’m just frustrated for the fans, frustrated for my team. I just want to play better. Got to play better.”
Harper tried a different batting stance on Friday, which is not unusual when he is struggling. Instead of tipping his bat almost horizontally above his left shoulder before the pitcher begins his delivery, he held it almost upright.
He went 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. The two balls he put in play, he hit hard: a 98.7 mph groundout and a 104.3 mph single.
“You know, I switch it up a little here and there, depending on how I feel,” Harper said Saturday afternoon. “Swing-wise, bat-wise, I kind of fiddle around a little bit. It felt good. It felt direct. I felt like I had a little bit more time. In my head, I had more time.”
Harper returned to his regular stance on Saturday and Sunday.
Is he searching for something?
“I wouldn’t say searching,” he said. “I’m just not squaring it up. I’m missing pitches over the plate. I’m swinging at pitches out of the zone. I feel like it’s always that. I’m missing pitches over the plate and swinging at pitches out of the zone. If I’m doing that, I’m going bad. Or not bad, but just not going.
“If I can hone in on connecting on balls over the plate, I think that’ll help. But the thing is I don’t feel terrible. I just need to get the ball over the plate and not miss those. The first pitch [Friday in the eighth inning] against [Jalen] Beeks, he throws me a heater down the middle and I foul it off. So just trying to get on time.”
Harper, like every hitter, has bad stretches. He struggled similarly last July into early August. He got hot again.
“He puts a lot of pressure on himself because his expectations of himself are higher than anybody else,” Thomson said. “He knows how important he is to the ballclub, the city and the franchise, and so he wears it. He really does. It’s who he is. but I can tell you this, he's handled it a lot better than he has in the past.”
How so?
“Just staying calm, he’s being a really good teammate,” Thomson said.
It’s nice, but Harper wants to deliver, too.
“It’s going to happen,” he said. “I’ll come back out of it and be totally fine. But it’s just a frustrating moment, not being able to come through.”