Nationals' Bryce Harper: Sitting out Monday

Harper is not in the lineup Monday against the Marlins, Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post reports.

Analysis:

With the Nats comfortably atop the NL East, they'll rest the reigning NL MVP in preparation for the postseason. Harper hit an encouraging .310 in the month of August, but his struggles have returned in September, as he's hitting just .184 with one home run, seven RBI and 16 strikeouts across 49 at-bats.