Phillies

Bryce Harper’s First At-Bat With the Phillies is a Sign of Things to Come

By Bob Wankel

Published: Mar 9th, 2019 · 1:52 PM EST

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Bryce Harper just made his Phillies spring training debut. I’ll spare you my personal feelings on the proceedings, but I’m sure that you can imagine that I feel quite strong right now. It feels like spring has finally sprung, I guess you could say.

This guy gets it:

“Now batting right fielder Bryce Harper”

Me: pic.twitter.com/JXNQlTRGwb

— Charxey (@SnowmanEmbiid) March 9, 2019

Together, let us relive this little bit of Clearwater magic.

Brian Dawkins, for some reason which I’m completely fine with, kicked things off on the mic right before first pitch:

Y’all hyped for this season yet?@BrianDawkins sure is. pic.twitter.com/I2YvRyTr2R

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 9, 2019

After a scoreless first inning from Jake Arrieta, Harper came to the plate in the bottom of the frame. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song? Didn’t see it coming, but I could have definitely predicted this standing ovation:

Bryce Harper walks up to the Fresh Prince theme song for his first at-bat with the Phillies

(via @CespedesBBQ)pic.twitter.com/tE1I5lM3Yb

— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) March 9, 2019

Harper swung through a 95 mph Matt Shoemaker fastball on the opening pitch and then saw four straight out of the strike zone. Get used to seeing a lot of this:

Here’s every pitch of Harper’s first AB with the Phillies. pic.twitter.com/WVWZEbq1th

— Bob Wankel (@Bob_Wankel) March 9, 2019

Followed by a lot of this:

ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?! pic.twitter.com/qewBmg6f97

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) March 9, 2019

Also good at baseball: Rhys Hoskins. March 28th can’t get here soon enough.