Harper mired in skid, continues fall toward Mendoza Line
While the box score may not technically show it due to an anomaly, Nationals Park witnessed Bryce Harper going 0-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts on Monday as the slugger's slow crawl toward the dreaded Mendoza Line continues.
Harper had logged a pair of at-bats before a rescheduled contest from May 15 started on Monday. The Washington Nationals star promptly struck out swinging on four pitches when the game began in the sixth inning. Later, the 25-year-old slugger would work a walk in the seventh.
In the subsequent game that followed the pseudo doubleheader, Harper didn't reach base, going 0-for-4 with one strikeout.
Harper's bat stayed ice cold despite the oft-whiskered outfielder attempting to snap the skid by shaving his beard:
Bryce Harper really shaved his beard... pic.twitter.com/EsaUAODNnx
— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) June 18, 2018
Excluding the pair of at-bats in the first game - which will live in the record books as plate appearances that happened in May - Harper is now 7-for-52 in the month of June with four walks. Monday's contests whittled his season slash line down to .213/.350/.471.
Harper, a pending free agent, still boasts a solid on-base percentage in the same vicinity as Odubel Herrera and Brett Gardner, both of whom are respectable hitters. However, a .350 OBP is still a far cry from the superstar's remarkable clip of .458 that he posted in the opening month of 2018. Entering Monday's contests, Harper's OBP since the beginning of May is well south of league average at .274, while his batting average sits one point below the Mendoza Line (.199).
"I watch him and he gets a little frustrated," manager Dave Martinez told Jamal Collier of MLB.com on Saturday. "The biggest thing is just to keep him levelheaded and let him go out there and do his thing. I've said this before, he's one of the best players in the game. He's going to carry us, I know he is."
The Nationals begin an interleague set against the state-rival Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. The three-game Beltway Series gets underway at Nationals Park with Jefry Rodriguez taking the bump for the home side against David Hess.