BRYCE HARPER FULL

And as all can clearly see, it’s been a successful tactic so far. Harper is sacrificing walks for balls in play this year. So, since he has swung at about 45 more pitches than usual, and because he is making contact at a 71.5% rate, Bryce Harper has already made contact with about 32 more pitches than he might have in the past.

Harper’s contact rate, on the other hand, is relatively close to his career average.

BRYCE HARPER FULL

If he keeps this up for a full season, he’d be swinging at 200-250 more pitches than before. A 55.5% swing rate means he has already swung at 45 more pitches than he normally would.

His career swing rate is 47.2%, which is right around league average. The last time he had a swing rate this high in any 34-game span was April 2015, during his first MVP season. The only other season in which he had a swing rate higher than 50% was 2014. He has swung at 55.5% of pitches this year, a career high. Harper is swinging a lot more than he has in past years. So what has Harper been doing differently this year? His strikeout rate is in line with his career average, so he must be putting the ball in play much more often than he usually does. This isn’t entirely unprecedented for Harper, but it remains highly unusual. However, he did have a 34-game stretch with a 7.6% BB% in June/July 2021, and another one with an 8.1% BB% in May/June 2018. It is the lowest walk rate he’s put up in any 34-game span since his injury-shortened 2014 season. Harper’s 7.5% walk rate this season is just half of his career average. Bryce Harper Is Walking at Half His Career Rate It’s unusual to see a ten-year MLB veteran in the prime of his career make such a significant change to his approach, especially coming off an MVP-winning season. Nevertheless, Harper’s walk rate is still worth talking about. Harper is playing at an elite level, and if you need to be concerned about something, it should be his UCL. It clearly hasn’t affected his swing, but if it gets worse and requires surgery, the MV3 could be out of commission for a prolonged period of time.Īll that to say, Bryce Harper’s walk rate is far from a major concern. If you are looking for a problem, the thing to focus on is Harper’s UCL tear. His surprisingly low walk rate has not been a problem.

He’s doing his job, even if he’s going about it in a new way. He’s still getting on base at a rate 15% higher than league average, and no one in baseball has scored more often than he has. In other words, Bryce Harper is still producing, despite career-low walk numbers. Harper has even been a serious threat on the basepaths - his six stolen bases are just two behind league leaders Harrison Bader and Tommy Edman. On the season, he leads National League hitters in runs scored, home runs, doubles, extra-base hits, total bases, and slugging percentage. Harper has been one of the best hitters in baseball this year, and he’s been especially productive since the start of May. Bryce Harper’s walk rate probably isn’t top of mind for you right now.

Bryce harper