Eager to capitalize on Bryce Harper's increasingly robust walk rate, the Washington Nationals made a dramatic tweak to their batting order Tuesday.
Harper, the five-time All-Star who sits second in the majors with a .458 OBP through 29 games, will hit leadoff for the first time since 2013 on Tuesday in his club's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Nationals Park.
Bryce Harper is leading off for the first time since 2013 as the #Nats try whatever they can do take advantage of all his walks ... pic.twitter.com/RnMLW5t2YW
— Mark Zuckerman (@MarkZuckerman) May 1, 2018
Through the first month of the season, Harper has hit exclusively out of the No. 3 spot, managing a .989 OPS with eight homers and one double. Over his last dozen contests, however, the former National League MVP is just 5-for-35 (.143) with 17 walks, and the paucity of hittable pitches he's getting - only two qualified hitters have seen a smaller percentage of pitches inside the strike zone - is getting on his nerves, according to Nationals manager Dave Martinez.
"They're walking him, and he's a little frustrated," Martinez told MASN's Mark Zuckerman on Monday. "But I told him, I said: ‘Take your walks. Take your walks. Try to stay on the ball.' He's getting maybe one pitch to hit, and he said today: 'I just keep fouling them off.' And I said: 'I know it's frustrating. I do. But just stay with it. Things will change. You're a good hitter. You're one of the best hitters in the game, so just stay with it.' "
Harper currently owns the third-highest single-season walk rate (29 percent) for a qualified hitter in the live-ball era, behind only Barry Bonds' marks from 2002 (32.4 percent) and 2004 (37.6 percent), respectively.
