SAN FRANCISCO – Bryce Harper is trying to find his way back after spending 25 days on the injured list.
But hitting got harder in Monday night’s 3-1 loss to the Giants at Oracle Park. Harper struck out looking on a pitch above the strike zone in the fifth inning. He got two pitches out of the zone to start his at-bat in the eighth, but both were called strikes. Harper kept his cool, although home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi heard a few comments from the Phillies’ dugout.
“I feel like anytime I complain, it’s pretty obvious. Right?” Harper said. “He knows he missed them.”
Harper went 1-for-3 with one walk and one strikeout against the Giants. He is batting .200 (4-for-20) with four walks and 10 strikeouts since he returned from the IL last month because of inflammation in his right wrist.
“I felt confident today,” Harper said. “I felt really good where I was. I thought I was going to be in some good counts. I thought I was going to be in some good situations, but sometimes that happens. The umpire took over the game. … I didn’t really say anything to him when I walked off the first time on the strike three that was up. I just told him he missed it. I respect Phil. I like Phil a lot, but obviously it doesn’t help us in those situations.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he still liked a couple of Harper’s swings.
“It looked normal,” he said. “Balanced and a lot of bat speed. Hopefully we’re making strides here.”
“It’s been six games,” Harper said. “Obviously, I want it to happen now. But I felt really good tonight.”
The Phillies had six hits in the series opener. They left seven runners on base. They were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position.
They are 0-for-21 with runners in scoring position in the last three games.
“Obviously, that can’t happen,” Harper said. “We’ve got a lot of guys that should come through in those situations. We haven’t. We’ve just got to do a better job.”
The Phils wasted another solid performance from Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who allowed one run in seven innings.
He is 7-2 with a 2.59 ERA this season.
“Obviously, our starting pitching has been lights-out,” Harper said. “We could have three or four All-Stars from our starting staff. We should be winning more of their games.”
Thomson had gathered his team on Sunday morning at Citizens Bank Park to tell everybody which players made the NL All-Star team.
It was a quick chat. He mentioned Zack Wheeler, who could start Tuesday’s game in Atlanta, and Kyle Schwarber, who is among the game’s home-run leaders. But no Trea Turner. No Sánchez. No Ranger Suárez.
There are All-Star snubs every year, but an argument can be made that Turner was the biggest snub in the NL. He entered Monday leading the league with 109 hits and tied for fourth with a 3.8 fWAR.
“I’m a competitor in the sense that I would like to get selected,” Turner said. “Just because it kind of justifies a little bit of having a good season and whatnot. But, you know, kind of out of my control. … [Juan] Soto’s having a good year, a lot of guys don’t necessarily make it. That’s why it’s an honor. It’s hard to get into.”
But Turner said he was really surprised Sánchez didn’t make the team.
“I won’t lie, it got me by surprise,” Sánchez said through the team’s interpreter.
Turner and Sánchez both seem hopeful that they will get a call to participate in next week’s All-Star Game at Truist Park. Players drop out all the time.
“My family does,” Turner said. “A lot of awards, I’ve realized, are kind of for the people around me. They want me to get those probably more than I want. I just want to play baseball, do my job, do it well, try to win a championship and all that other stuff. So I think the people around me want it a little more than me.”
If not, Sánchez said he will use the slight as fuel.
“That motivates me a lot,” he said. “One of the other things is we might not be going through our best stretch hitting right now, so that motivates me a lot to have my team’s back.”