Bryce Harper will play his first regular season game as a member of the Phillies on Thursday afternoon. He will face Braves starter Julio Teheran, a pitcher he has reached base against 29 times in 51 career plate appearances. Included in those 51 plate appearances are eight home runs, three doubles, and seven other base-hits. That said, Harper will undoubtedly bring Phillies fans to their feet on Thursday before the game and likely again during it. For now, his Instagram game remains nearly as impressive as his numbers against Teheran.

I give you, loyal readers, what I call Perfection.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvfsVfygWlW/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

How I longed to see these things; how I longed to see the Liberty Bell and party on the streets where Bobby Clarke, Nick “BD” Foles, and Chase Utley had partied! #Phamily

-Bryce Harper

Walt Whitman, T.S. Eliot, Robert Frost, Bryce Harper. Poets all, beautifully baring their souls.

In all seriousness, this is tremendous work by Harper. He gets points for Nick “BD” Foles and Chase Utley, although in order to party on the same streets as Bobby Clarke, he might need to cross the bridge and walk down the Black Horse Pike in Audubon by Rexy’s, but point taken. Either way, Harper has been masterful both on the mic and on social media in terms of creating goodwill from the fans before ever playing a meaningful game.

Note: Be sure to check out the latest episode of Crossing Broad’s Crossed Up: A Phillies Podcast.