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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/nationals-journal/wp/2016/05/24/his-struggles-mounting-its-fair-to-wonder-whats-wrong-with-bryce-harper/

Bryce Harper’s struggles mounting, is it fair to wonder what’s wrong with him?

By Chelsea Janes May 24

Bryce Harper went 0 for 4 Monday night, extending an uncharacteristically long slump. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

About 40 minutes after the last out of the Nationals’ 7-1 loss to the Mets Monday night, Bryce Harper walked into the Nationals’ clubhouse. Most of his teammates were in the kitchen with postgame meals, or showered, dressed and long gone. The reigning National League MVP still wore his uniform, hat turned backwards, batting gloves on.

Harper walked to his locker, where he propped his bat against the side and peeled the batting gloves off his hands. They were red with what had to be dye from the gloves, because it is hard to imagine the number of swings it would take to leave them so inflamed.

Did he go straight to the cage after another quiet offensive day, after the most pronounced slump now has him hitting .183 in his last 25 games?

“No comment,” said Harper, though his batting practice pitcher Ali Modami was a late arrival to the clubhouse, too.

Harper has gone whole games without swinging the bat once. He’s gone series without attacking a first pitch. Harper saw nine pitches in four hitless at-bats Monday night, seemingly out in front or just behind pitches he normally squares up.

“I thought I got good pitches to hit. I felt great up there, to tell you guys the truth,” Harper said. “I don’t feel like there’s a problem at all. Just need to stay through the baseball. That’s pretty much it.”

The 23-year-old has not exactly been flailing helplessly during this stretch. He’s struck out five times in his last 10 games, but is still piling up walks, though only twice in the last three games, well off his normal pace. Harper appears seemingly less willing to let a decent pitch go by for the sake of walking.

“He’s kind of in between,” Nationals Manager Dusty Baker said. “He’s ahead of breaking balls or off-speed pitches and he was behind on fastballs. It’s about vision and recognition. Right now, I’ve been there. Everybody’s been there. When you’re hitting good, the ball looks like a beach ball and when you’re not swinging good it looks like a golf ball.”

“It’s about vision,” Baker added. “He’ll get it, because this guy has tremendous eyes and hand-eye coordination. It just happens to be that his name is Bryce Harper and he’s kind of spoiled us all.”

Harper has shown some signs of frustration over the last few days, including a rather violent disposal of his bat after one at-bat in Miami when he fired it to the ground so hard MLB’s Instagram account posted a video of the toss with the caption “When you realize tomorrow is Monday.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFuaN9gplrV/

Monday, he dropped a tough sliding catch on a line drive in the first inning. Sunday, he was caught stealing when he stopped halfway to third base, an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation. Harper has not endured many prolonged slumps recently, and did not have one to speak of last season. His manager thinks he has handled the trouble “pretty well.”

“How many times can you say ‘hang with ’em’, or how many times can you say pat a guy on the back. All you can do right now is give him some love,” Baker said. “Right now, one thing that’s not giving him love is his bat. That’s what gives the hitter love is when you’re getting hits. Right now, he just needs some understanding and love from all of us. He’ll come out of it.”