6 series to circle in Harper's 1st season with Phillies

Now that Bryce Harper's finally found a new home with the Philadelphia Phillies, baseball fans can check the schedule and start getting excited for what's to come.

Harper's debut season in Philadelphia will feature a bit of familiarity since he's still plying his trade in the National League East. But there will be plenty of new rivalries and intrigue when he dons a Phillies uniform for the first time, even if a trip to Yankee Stadium has to wait another year.

Here are six series to circle on the calendar during Harper's first season with the Phillies.

Home opener (vs. Braves) - March 28-31

Harper knows Citizens Bank Park well after visiting it multiple times with the Nationals over the last seven seasons. But it will be a strange sight, to say the least, to see him in the home dugout for the first time. South Philadelphia is no longer a hostile environment for Harper. Expect the Philly faithful to give him a hero's welcome on Opening Day.

Return to D.C. (at Nationals) - April 2-3

Nationals fans won't have to wait long to see Harper in Washington again, as the Phillies' fourth game of the season is in D.C. He might even get to face Max Scherzer during that two-game set in what would be an epic early-season battle.

Harper spent seven years as the face of the Nationals, winning an MVP and leading the franchise to four division titles - albeit with zero playoff series wins. There will no doubt be some kind of tribute from the organization, but it's the fan reaction to his first of many returns that will be most interesting to watch. Whether it's cheers or jeers, emotions are sure to be high throughout this two-game series.

Going west (at Dodgers) - May 31-June 2

L.A. was a late entrant to the Harper sweepstakes but failed to lure him to Hollywood on a short-term, high-dollar contract. That fact will no doubt be on Dodgers fans' minds when the Phillies make their lone visit of the season in late May. Harper's always had a flair for the dramatic, so he'll surely be looking for a chance to light some fireworks at Dodger Stadium and show his opponents what they missed out on.

Meeting Manny (at Padres) - June 3-5

It's a long-standing individual rivalry, one that's been transplanted from the Nationals-Orioles battle to a cross-country clash that gained some additional juice over the winter. One week before Harper joined the Phillies, the Padres officially inked Manny Machado - that other All-Star free agent who was left without work until late February - to a $300-million deal in a free-agent splash of their own.

San Diego made a push to land Harper before he joined the Phillies and Philadelphia courted Machado before he signed with the Padres. Both players should have extra motivation for this series as they try to prove which team made the better investment, and the atmosphere at Petco Park should be electric during this star-studded series.

Bay battle (at Giants) - Aug. 8-11

Harper isn't exactly loved in San Francisco. During the 2014 playoffs, he famously launched - and admired - two long homers off then-Giants reliever Hunter Strickland. Three years later, when they met again at what was then AT&T Park, Strickland intentionally beaned Harper and triggered an ugly bench-clearing brawl. To top it all off, Harper reportedly rejected the Giants' $310-million offer this week. When he visits San Francisco for the first time as a member of the Phillies, Harper might be in for a very rude welcome.

September showdown (at Nationals) - Sept. 23-26

Harper gets his first return to Washington out of the way early but his final visit to Nationals Park in 2019 might be far more important. With four teams - sorry, Marlins fans - wholly capable of coming out on top after 162 games, the NL East should be one of the most competitive divisions in baseball, and this four-game set between the Phillies and Nationals could help decide it all. The rivalry was already a bitter one; Harper knocking his old team out of the playoffs - in his former home, no less - would turn things up to 11.