Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will take part in the Major League Baseball Home Run Derby at Nationals Park on July 16 – but it comes with a condition.
“So count me in for the Derby if and only if I make the team. But if I do (make the team) I will be a participant in the 2018 HR Derby,” he said in a text message to The Washington Post on Friday.
The Home Run Derby is Monday, July 16 at Nationals Park with the Major League All-Star game the next night.
A fan favorite, Harper appeared to be a lock for the All-Star game in early May. But he has struggled for more than a month, hitting .189 in his last 30 games with 42 strikeouts and 13 walks.
In his last 15 games he is hitting .137 with just one homer with 17 strikeouts and seven walks in 51 at-bats.
Steve Phillips, a former Mets general manager and current baseball analyst, told 106.7 FM The Fan in Washington on Friday before the news broke that he could understand Harper not wanting to take part in the Home Run derby since the exhibition has messed up power hitters in the past.
Harper leads the National League in homers with 19 and walks with 55 but he was hitting .213 with an on-base average of .352 and 72 strikeouts going into a scheduled home game Friday night with the Phillies.
“He could be over-trying sometimes,” Phillips told The Fan.
Harper was in the lineup as the leadoff hitter for the second game in a row Friday, with rookie outfielder Juan Soto, 19, batting fourth for the second straight game and the second time in his big league career.
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