Bryce Harper is firing up the Phillies in more ways than one

In the last couple of weeks, the debate has been constant. 'Has Bryce Harper lived up to the $330 million dollar contract that he has been given?' While it is absolutely too early to tell, just months into a 13-year deal, the fans in Philadelphia have seemed to grow a little restless.

Harper was even quoted, saying "I'd do the same thing" regarding boos after a home loss to the Tigers. I was at that particular game. While the boos were not loud, they exist. When a player is paid that kind of money, the fans want instant gratification. However, players slump. It happens. Aaron Nola is turning his season around after not showing his best stuff on the mound. A once Cy Young award candidate looked anything but so, to the point where Philadelphia personalities were second guessing if he could still be the ace in Philadelphia. In the case of Harper, I kept going to each game I could attend and cheered him on.

In the last two weeks, Bryce Harper has shown that he is starting to turn things around, but maybe not in the way that the fans would guess. They naturally want to see home runs and RBIs more often from Harper, but because of our fixation on his struggles at the plate and what we know he can do with the bat in his hands, I believe that observing his defensive plays has taken a backseat. He has stopped games from getting out of hand on more than a few occasions in right field and came up big with clutch plays.

If it's not a home run, he is hitting a single or double when the team needs an offensive lift. Sure, he may still have been going one for four or two for five on those nights, including walks, but we cannot completely discount that. He is still a disruption for opposing teams to set up other players with RBI opportunities, such as Cesar Hernandez, Jean Segura, Andrew McCutchen, and Rhys Hoskins.

Let's take it back to when the Milwaukee Brewers came to visit the Philadelphia Phillies. In that series, the Brewers won three of four games in Philadelphia. In game one against the Brewers, Bryce Harper was a non-factor at the plate, going zero for four with no walks and three strikeouts. In game two, Harper went zero for two with two walks in four plate appearances. However, Harper had two sliding catches into the right field wall in foul territory that would have kept Brewers batters alive, Ryan Braun and Lorenzo Cain, who cleaned up in Citizens Bank Park. In game three, Harper went one for four with a double and a strikeout.

This was the game where I felt that Harper started to slowly work back into being able to hit again, which would be evident later in the week. The final game of the four-game series against the Brewers, Harper accounted for a run after Rhys Hoskins drove him home on a sacrifice fly. Harper's batting stats on the day were one for four, including a single and a strikeout. The trend in this series is that it seemed he became more patient at the plate, began to make contact more often, struck out less often, and produced a run. In a span of one series, that is the difference of night and day.

That series against the Milwaukee Brewers was one to forget at home, but the Philadelphia Phillies then welcomed the Colorado Rockies. This was a team that the Phillies had difficulty with while they were visitors in Colorado at Coor's Field.

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I was live at this game with a couple of friends on the third base line. When I show up, so does Bryce Harper. He hit a critical double in this game that ended up driving in the game-winning runs in this game one hosting the Rockies. Harper went one for four on the evening including a double, two RBIs, and two strikeouts.

Game two against the Rockies, Harper breaks his home run drought in the bottom of the first, setting the tone for the win. In four plate appearances, Harper had two hits, including the solo home run, a double, a walk, and a strikeout.

The pre-game bow that Harper took with a young fan seemed to be the good luck that the superstar needed. In the series sweep against the Rockies, Harper showed up once more, earning an RBI in the bottom of the second inning, scoring Andrew McCutchen and capping the game off with a two-run home run to seal the game and the series for the Phillies. This third game, Harper was two for five with three RBIs and one strikeout. Major production in that series against Colorado from where the fans wanted it most!

As the series against the Chicago Cubs ends today in a split, which was a wild series, Bryce Harper has continued to keep up with his change for the better in fielding and producing runs for the Phillies. As game one against the Cubs went into extra innings, Harper did account for one of the runs that kept the Phillies in the ball game.

His stat line shows in five plate appearances, he didn't record a hit, he struck out once, but he was also walked once. As long as Harper can get on base, it may as well be as good as a single since that is the way he was able to cross home plate. The Cubs could have defeated the Phillies in game one and took this series too, but Harper threw a great throw from right field directly to JT Realmuto and beat Anthony Rizzo at home for an out to close an inning. Once again, if Harper isn't driving in an RBI, he is stopping opposing teams from getting them.

The Cubs took game two and Harper went zero for four at the plate with a strikeout, however, his fielding stood out. He even got a little chippy with Cubs fans and chucked a ball out of the bleachers, which I got a good kick out of. He made up for his game two woes at the plate in game three, going three for five and accounting for a run, but the Cubs bats went off with home runs against Cole Irvin to take that game. Today, the Phillies battled back to split the series in the fourth and final game, where Harper drove in an RBI off a single. In five plate appearances, Harper had one hit, two strikeouts, and drew a walk. The ability to make contact never went away with Harper and his fielding stayed consistent.

So has Bryce Harper lived up to the $330 million dollar contract so far? It's early, but when I look at the entirety of his game, I think he is coming into form. Maybe he isn't the value as of yet, but baseball is a season of one hundred and sixty-two games.

In the span of three series, we saw Harper show that he can still move in the outfield and make plays, hit impressive home runs, and own the tenacity to play the game of baseball with the want to win. He is a winner and Philadelphia embraces that. There is no need to panic when we talk about the man in right field. The Philadelphia Phillies have the Milwaukee Brewers again next in Milwaukee. Since that is where he seemed to struggle at the plate last week, I am just excited to see how he will bounce back.