No one’s quite sure what Bryce Harper was doing on Wednesday night.
The Phillies right fielder’s sixth inning at-bat had fans and opposing players questioning what his gameplan was as Harper didn’t swing once through six pitches.
Leading off the inning with Milwaukee reliever Hoby Milner on the mound, Harper proceeded to drop his shoulders with no intention of swinging on a mix of fastballs, curveballs and sinkers.
Milner was not sure what to make of it.
“Not for that many pitches, no,” Milner said when asked about Harper’s resigned tactic, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
“For a couple pitches, yeah. I was like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe this is going to be the pitch that he decides to ambush.’ It just never came.”
Watching five consecutive pitches go by, Harper built a full-count by just standing limply at the plate.
The former NL MVP seemed to show some interest in the sixth pitch, but ultimately did not bite.
Milner’s final pitch of the bizarre at-bat was called a strike and the Phillies were dealt the first out of the inning in a game the Brewers eventually 5-3 at Citizens Bank Park.
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Harper finished the night 1-for-4 with a single.
“After the first couple of pitches, it was apparent he was taking. I guess the scouting report he was going with was I was going to throw four balls before three strikes approach,” Milner said
“That’s really all I can say. That’s what it looked like. So I just filled it up after that. I just tried to throw fastballs down the middle after that.”
The Athletic reported that Harper had a 101-degree fever on Tuesday night and lost his voice on Wednesday despite participating in infield practice.
Brewers catcher William Contreras questioned if Harper was trying to limit damage on his elbow after returning from offseason Tommy John surgery.
“I was definitely a little confused,” catcher William Contreras said. “I think there might have been something with his elbow.
“Coming off Tommy John, he knows he’s going to have some hard swings against someone like Milner but whatever it was, we know he’s a good hitter, so being able to get a free out like that, we’ll take it.”
It was an uncharacteristic showing from Harper who has four home runs in 62 games this season.
Harper’s homer on July 15 against the Padres was his first since May 25.
