Hits hard to come by for Harper at Citi Field, but 'I love playing here'

By Todd Zolecki | October 7, 2024

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NEW YORK -- Somebody on Sunday night mentioned momentum to Bryce Harper, and asked if he thought the Phillies recaptured it following their back-and-forth, 7-6 walk-off victory over the Mets in Game 2 of the NL Division Series at Citizens Bank Park.

“You want to go 2-0 at home, but being able to go 1-1 into New York …” he said, before pausing a moment.

Harper chuckled.

“I imagine it’s going to be pretty hostile there,” he continued. “And a lot of fun. So, really looking forward to that.”

Harper in New York in the postseason feels like the perfect match. He is a superstar player who thrives in big moments, and he hopes to create more big moments this week on baseball’s biggest stage.

Harper will be booed at Citi Field, like he is always booed in New York (and just like he has been booed in every ballpark across baseball since his rookie season in 2012).

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But the boos will be louder this week because this is the postseason, and these fan bases do not like each other.

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“It’s definitely different,” Harper said. “Obviously, when you go into an environment -- San Diego, New York, L.A., Atlanta -- there are certain places you just have fun, man. It's fun to kind of go back and forth against them and do certain things in the game that upset them or make them happy or whatever.

“I feel like the respect is there, obviously. I've grown to respect a lot of fans and understand their passion they have for their teams. It's just always fun coming in here and playing. Obviously, right now being the postseason, it's going to be pretty hostile. It should be fun."

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Harper hit a mammoth two-run home run halfway up the batter’s eye in center field in the sixth inning in Game 2 at Citizens Bank Park, cutting the Mets’ deficit to 3-2. It energized the crowd, while Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto said it relaxed everybody in the dugout.

The Phils are 11-0 when Harper homers in the postseason. They are 9-12 when he doesn’t.

Harper would love nothing more than to hit a couple homers and quiet the Citi Field crowd on Tuesday in Game 3, and Wednesday in Game 4.

Don’t put it past him. Consider the top five players in career postseason OPS (minimum 150 plate appearances):

  1. Babe Ruth, 1.211 (167 PA)
  2. Lou Gehrig, 1.208 (150 PA)
  3. Bryce Harper, 1.024 (224 PA)
  4. George Brett, 1.023 (184 PA)
  5. Carlos Beltrán, 1.021 (256 PA)

Harper is also tied with Pete Rose and Albert Pujols for fourth with 2.6 Wins Probability Added in the postseason. The only players ahead of them are David Ortiz (3.2), Beltrán (2.9) and Lance Berkman (2.7).

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What makes those numbers more impressive is that Harper gets almost nothing to hit. There have been 131 players since 2008 to see 250 or more pitches in the postseason. Harper ranks 129th in pitches in the strike zone at 39.5 percent.

Harper has seen only 13 of 48 pitches in the zone (27.1 percent) in the first two games of this series.

But can Harper do it in New York? It will be a challenge. Perhaps it is a fluke, but since he joined the Phillies in 2019, Harper has not hit well at Citi Field.

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Harper’s regular season stats in NL East parks since he joined the Phils:

Interestingly, Harper performed well at Citi Field when he played for the Nationals (.877 OPS, 12 HRs, 35 RBIs in 245 PA). He also has hit the Mets at home since he joined the Phillies (.991 OPS, 13 HRs, 32 RBIs in 184 PA).

This season, Harper went 3-for-23 with 10 strikeouts and only one extra-base hit at the Mets’ home park. And yet …

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“I think it's a great park,” Harper said about Citi Field. “I think the fans always show out. Even when I was first coming up, I thought the Mets fans were pretty loud and definitely loyal to their team. I love coming here. I love playing here. I would have loved to play Shea. I think that would have been really cool, but I missed that. But yeah, this is a great ballpark."

And this is the postseason. So it might be smart to throw those regular-season numbers out the window.

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