Nationals All-Star Bryce Harper grounded into an inning ended double play in the 5th inning of Friday night’s loss to the Mets. That happens sometimes, so does Harper not hustling.
Harper didn’t bother to run out the double play ball and it was so noticeable the Mets broadcasters took note of it.
SNY’s Gary Cohen said, “Harper didn’t even bother running.”
Keith Hernandez replied, “Wow. Your star player, that kind of effort. That’s not good.”
Bryce Harper hits a sharp grounder to short and Amed Rosario and Asdrubal C.. ? https://t.co/wiOBPdVmzY
Vía MLB pic.twitter.com/HlV8NddHY7— Platano Power RD (@PlatanoPowerDO) July 14, 2018
They weren’t the only ones who took note of the lack of effort. Reporters asked Nationals manager Dave Martinez about it after the game.
Via Federal Baseball:
“That’s a conversation that Bryce and I will have tomorrow. He didn’t run that ball out the way I wanted to so we’ll talk about it tomorrow.”
Martinez was asked if he thought that was out of character for Harper, a player who’s been accused of playing too hard at times. He stressed that he has no overall issue with Harper’s effort even if he didn’t like the lack of hustle on that particular play.
“Hey look, I’ve got no beef with Bryce,” the first-year manager said.
“Bryce comes every day to play. Try to give him days off, he don’t want days off.
“He tries to win, he wants to win, that’s who he is, and like I said, we’ll have a conversation about it tomorrow.”
Add this kind of play to the fact that he’s hitting just .213 and there’s no chance in hell Harper’s going to get a $400 million contract.
This isn’t an isolated incident either. Remember when he was choked by a teammate in the dugout for his lack of hustle?
