Is Bryce Harper afraid of COVID-19? That’s a clown question, bro.
The Philadelphia Phillies outfielder and former Washington Nationals star “seemed to acknowledge the absurdity” of Major League Baseball’s edict that players stay eight feet away from reporters when talking, NBC Sports Philadelphia reported.
“We have to understand you have to do a job,” Harper told reporters Tuesday. “We need to talk to you, we need to. As of right now, I guess it’s going to be out here, but hopefully in the near future you guys are back in there with us and we’re just going on with our daily routine of talking to you guys.”
Harper said the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has not changed his daily routine.
“I live, man,” Harper said Tuesday. “I don’t worry about a disease or a virus. I live my life. I’m doing everything the same. I’m shaking people’s hands, I’m high-fiving. I’m healthy. I’m 27. The people that are affected, it’s a lot of older and maybe some young, as well. But I just live my life.”
The outbreak of the virus has killed more than 4,000 worldwide. Professional baseball leagues in Japan and South Korea have pushed back the start of their seasons, but there’s no indication yet that MLB will consider the same measure.
Harper, entering the second season of a 13-year contract he signed with the Phillies in February 2019, is remaining laid back about what may lie ahead with the virus outbreak.
“I’m just doing my thing every single day, the same way,” he said. “I go out to eat. I get in my car and drive to the field. I pick up baseballs in the cage. I feel safe in my clubhouse with the guys who are in there. If I cough up a lung then, I don’t know, you know what I’m saying? I feel bad for the people that have been affected by it.
“No one wants to see anybody get sick. That’s a bummer. But I’m healthy right now and I want to stay in a good mental state and just do my thing on the field. If it gets to the point where it gets really bad, then we’ll figure it out from there.”
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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