The Cubs defeated the Nationals 4-3 on Sunday to cap off a four-game sweep at Wrigley Field. After the game, a member of the Nationals wasn’t too pleased with the way Chicago approached pitching to Bryce Harper.
During the four game series, last year’s National League MVP recorded just four official at-bats, all of them coming in the first two games. Harper was walked a total of 13 times, including six times on Sunday, which tied a major league record. In the 10th and 12th innings, Harper was intentionally walked to load the bases.
It may not be conventional, but the gambles paid off for Joe Maddon and the Cubs. Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark called it playing “scared baseball.”
Tanner Roark said was "very, very surprised" that Cubs walked Harper so many times. "I think it's scared baseball."
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) May 9, 2016
Harper finished second in the National League last year in both total walks (124) and intentional walks (15). Including Sunday’s game, Harper has now walked 30 times in 31 games so far this season, with eight of the intentional variety.
Roark may think taking the bat out of Harper’s hands is playing scared but, based on lineups used by the Nationals, it’s pretty smart. Coming into Sunday, Harper has been in the third spot on Dusty Baker’s lineup card 29 times. 25 times, Ryan Zimmerman has hit fourth. These days, Zimmerman isn’t the impact batter he once was, leading Chicago to take their chances with him this weekend, even with multiple runners on base.
The bad thing for Washington is, the other options to hit behind Harper aren’t that much better. Daniel Murphy and Jayson Werth are two likely candidates. However, if Baker sticks with his customary middle of the order and those behind Harper don’t begin cashing in on opportunities, it seems a sure bet Harper will surpass last season’s walk total.
