What Was Up with that Bryce Harper At Bat in the 6th? (UPDATE)

I’ve never seen Bryce Harper have an approach with this little enthusiasm. Usually he’s swinging so furiously you wonder if his arms are going to rip clean from his shoulder socket. Here it looked like his controller died:

https://twitter.com/kylepaganCB/status/1681824276549099522?s=20

Was he protesting? Does he have beef with Hoby Milner? Was he on so many drugs due to his 101-degree fever he was seeing three baseballs at the same time? Probably not because he mashed a single in the 9th and went first to third on Bryson Stott’s base knock later in the inning.

Here’s Milner talking about it:

The content you all crave: Hoby Milner discussing the strange at-bat against Bryce Harper in which he took six pitches the entire way en route to a punchout looking.

“He just stuck to a game plan and credit to him for sticking to it, I guess.” pic.twitter.com/bS07xtzGQP

— Curt Hogg (@CyrtHogg) July 20, 2023

So I guess Bryce didn’t believe he could throw a strike? Maybe that was what the scouting report said, but Milner’s numbers this year don’t tell the story of a guy struggling to get it over the plate. I don’t know. Just a weird at bat in a tie game. At least the Fish and the Braves lost.

I’ll update this if Harper says anything.

UPDATE: Here’s Rob Thomson on Bryce’s at bat: 

Thomson says Bryce Harper couldn’t read Milner the last time he faced him, so Harper took a couple pitches to try to read his release point, but ended up behind in the count.

That’s what you saw in that 6th inning AB last night, according to Rob.

— Taryn Hatcher (@TarynNBCS) July 20, 2023