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Struggling Harper knows he must improve: This is 'not who I am'

Rich Schultz / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Philadelphia demands better from Bryce Harper, and so does the player himself.

Harper has struggled since joining the Philadelphia Phillies, owning a .221 batting average through his first 43 games of the 2019 season. Since May 8, Harper is 4-for-27 with one extra-base hit and is coming off of another 0-for-4 night against the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday.

"I went through this last year at the beginning of the year," Harper told 94WIP Sports Radio on Thursday.

"Did I think I was going to go through it again right now? No, I didn't. But in sports, things happen, it's part of the journey, it's part of the life. Of course, I don't want to struggle. I don't want to go out there and go 0-for-4 and punch out two or three times. I mean, that's not who I am, that's not how I want to be.

"I gotta get better, I gotta be better, and everybody knows that. I know that myself and when I walk off the field at night, the game is over. I gotta turn the page and get back to the next day and I think that's the beautiful thing about baseball."

Despite going 34-for-154 to start his Phillies career and leading all of baseball with 58 strikeouts, Harper is still getting on base at a respectable .365 clip - pacing the Senior Circuit with 33 walks - and has seven home runs.

Still, after the team signed Harper to a 13-year, $330-million contract, fans were expecting more from the six-time All-Star and former MVP. Philly finds itself in first place in the National League East at 24-19, but spectators have taken to booing their superstar outfielder on occasion.

"It's a grind right now for Bryce, but there's nobody better equipped to handle this than Bryce Harper," Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said. "Even though he's gone through a struggle, he's still played his ass off on defense and he's given the highest level of effort and energy on the bases. He's going to produce a lot of wins for us with home runs, with walks, with doubles, with a higher batting average.

"It's just a matter of time before a talent like that and a character like that shows up, and begins to carry the club."

Harper is coming off of a down year in his final season with the Washington Nationals. The former first overall pick posted a .249/.393/.496 slash line with 34 home runs and 13 stolen bases. He still led all of baseball in walks with 130, as pitchers continued to work around the prodigious slugger.

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