Bryce Harper was benched by Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams Saturday for not running out a weak comebacker to the pitcher during the sixth inning of a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Harper waved at a good changeup that dove low and away and hit a dribbler back to Lance Lynn, who threw to first for the easy out. Harper just jogged about halfway down the line and peeled away without running all the way to first after he was thrown out. Williams responded by benching his left fielder and having Kevin Frandsen replace him.

Harper was 0-for-3 in the game and has been dealing with a quad injury, so you figure Williams might give him so leeway, but that was not the case.

“We made an agreement. He and I made an agreement, this team made an agreement, that when we play the game, we hustle at all times. That we play the game with intensity and the willingness to win,” Williams said after the game.

“For the sake of his teammates, he needs to play with aggression in the way he plays,” Williams said of Harper.

You can watch video of his postgame comments below:

Clearly Williams will not allow the quad injury to be an excuse. He felt Harper didn’t run it out because he was frustrated with his at-bat, not because he wasn’t well enough to. He probably sent the youngster a good message with the decision.

Oh, and DC Sports Bog shared this on Twitter – how great is this ironic Nats in-game magazine cover for Saturday’s game:

Amazing cover for today's in-game Nats mag pic.twitter.com/8Rz5np7jNh (via @bencelestino)

— Dan Steinberg (@dcsportsbog) April 20, 2014

Forearm bash to Eye on Baseball

Bryce Harper received the day off Sunday to clear his head following a poor start to the season.

Harper, the 21-year-old Nats’ phenom, is only 3-for-21 this season (.143) with 1 walk and 10 strikeouts in five games.

“I mean, I’m pretty lost right now, actually,” Harper said Sunday via Nats Insider. “I’m trying to see where my swing’s at, watch video of where my hands are. I’m trying everything right now. We’ll see where I’m at tomorrow. Give pops a call and see what he says, also.”

Harper doesn’t have an extra base hit or RBI this year, which is a clear sign something is off; he’s a slugger and expected to put up big power numbers.

But Harper has slumped in the past and this is obviously a slump to the season. And if you’re looking for something to blame, it could be that his head hasn’t been right since this incident on the bases on opening day. Harper passed concussion tests, but it may have messed with him.

All in all, you like to see your hitters start off the season well. The general pattern for hitters who start off well is good start -> cool down/slump -> get hot again. But if you start off slowly, the pattern is often reversed, and it’s hard to put up great numbers. Harper will be fine this year, but he might not be spectacular.