Bryce Harper struggling at AA; 2 for his last 30

[Frobby]

I'm not sure whether the minors forum or the MLB forum is the right place for this, but the Nats aggressively promoted Bryce Harper from low A direct to AA, and he is having a tough time with that adjustment, hitting .175/.250/.175 so far, and he's only had 2 hits in his last 30 at bats. Just goes to show that anyone can hit a bump in the road.

[Birdfan21]

FWIW, i've heard no one is pitching him inside. Keeping everything on the outter half against him.

[Stotle]

30 ABs? I think it's probably even a little premature to call this "struggling". Not to say it won't continue, but how many games are we talking about, here, ten? That's like a bad road trip.

[Stotle]

2-30 is bad no matter how you categorize it. A slump, struggling, bad road trip, whatever. The point is that when it's Bryce Harper, 2-30 is news. I'm sure he'll catch on fire but 2-30 deserves a mention.

Yikes. I'd hate to see what we think of .239/.337/.366 over 85 ABs or so in HiA for Machado!

You just aren't going to convince me that a fraction of a season for a top prospect is meaningful in any way. I'm sure there were fans freaking out about the slow start to the year for Castellanos, or Bryce Brentz's 280+ NY-Penn League at bats last year. Shrug.

[Stotle]

Overreacting much? All they said is he is having a tough time adjusting... and 2-30 is a pretty good indication of that. Nobody said he's a bust.

Apologies. You are right. Just because I don't see any reason to discuss 30 ABs, or see 30 ABs as indicative of anything, doesn't mean no one should be allowed to discuss it.

Sorry for sidetracking the discussion.

[csgordos]

The way our season has been going it is surprising that it isn't our Low A team that has such a poor field that we were the ones that had our top player (Machado) skipping Low A. See, something is going right for us!

[AVencill]

Yikes. I'd hate to see what we think of .239/.337/.366 over 85 ABs or so in HiA for Machado!

Machado may have gone 1-for-17 or something like that to start in Frederick, but he's got hits in nine of his last 10 games.

On the topic of Harper, it makes sense to pitch away from him as it's something he struggled with when I was watching Bryce in person. He has an incredible ability to rip the baseball down the line on pitches thrown in the inner third of the plate to him, but I did not see him really go the other way with success in the handful of games I witnessed. Slumps are slumps, but baseball is a game of peaks and valleys, and right now is one of those valleys. Playing in a challenging league with good pitching is going to make him mature even more as a hitter as he tries to find himself at the plate.

[RVAbird]

Machado may have gone 1-for-17 or something like that to start in Frederick, but he's got hits in nine of his last 10 games.

Right, but isn't that the point? 1-17 streaks happen, but good players get over them?

[baltfan]

Original poster's point is a good one. Even super talents can struggle a bit with promotions. I am sure Harper thinks he is struggling regardless of SSS.

[Stotle]

Original poster's point is a good one. Even super talents can struggle a bit with promotions. I am sure Harper thinks he is struggling regardless of SSS.

Well, it makes a claim that isn't necessarily supported by fact -- that Harper is struggling to adjust to AA. We do know as a matter of fact that Harper is not hitting well right now. I think it's a stretch to point to that as evidence of trouble adjusting to a level of play, as opposed to any other run of the mill slump he might periodically fall into.

He had little issue performing in the Arizona Fall League, which is overall a more talented collection of MiL players than the Eastern League.

[backwardsk]

I'm not sure whether the minors forum or the MLB forum is the right place for this, but the Nats aggressively promoted Bryce Harper from low A direct to AA, and he is having a tough time with that adjustment, hitting .175/.250/.175 so far, and he's only had 2 hits in his last 30 at bats. Just goes to show that anyone can hit a bump in the road.

I read in the Post that his promotion that skipped Woodbridge was because of the poor field conditions there.

[TakebackOPACY]

15 games so far in 'AA'. He hasn't had an extra base hit yet. And he's 1-for-17 with no walks and 6 K's against lefties.

Excusing the slugger's lack of slugging, he's a more than respectable 9-for-32 (.281) with 4 walks and 3 K's against righties.

I couldn't find his vs LHP/RHP splits from Hagerstown.

I read in the Post that his promotion that skipped Woodbridge was because of the poor field conditions there.

The Pfitzner Stadium situation is an embarrassment for the Nats and Prince William County. The P-Nats played a home series in Frederick this year. Putting two-and-two together, perhaps the two-level promotions of Strasburg and Harper is more about pressuring Prince William County than protecting their Uber-Prospects.

Harper Skips P-Nats, Officials Moving Toward New Stadium

[The Maestro]

Looking forward to seeing him play this week in Bowie against the Baysox. Hopefully he'll stay in his funk for a few more days!

[BaltimoreTerp]

15 games so far in 'AA'. He hasn't had an extra base hit yet. And he's 1-for-17 with no walks and 6 K's against lefties.

Excusing the slugger's lack of slugging, he's a more than respectable 9-for-32 (.281) with 4 walks and 3 K's against righties.

I couldn't find his vs LHP/RHP splits from Hagerstown.

The Pfitzner Stadium situation is an embarrassment for the Nats and Prince William County. The P-Nats played a home series in Frederick this year. Putting two-and-two together, perhaps the two-level promotions of Strasburg and Harper is more about pressuring Prince William County than protecting their Uber-Prospects.

Harper Skips P-Nats, Officials Moving Toward New Stadium

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/15/nationals-gm-cites-dangerous-field-conditions-and-safety-threat-at-high-single-a-potomac/

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/07/21/everyone-in-potomac-is-furious-about-mike-rizzos-criticism-of-dangerous-field-conditions/

[TakebackOPACY]

Good find, B-Terp. Got me to Google this Stewart guy from Prince William County:

Pfitzner Stadium Pic:

Oct. 15, 2010 letter from Nationals Minor League Director. February 2011 passing by Prince William County Board of County Supervisors to designate $70,000 to work with PWC Park Authority and Potomac Nationals ownership:

http://www.pwcgov.org/documents/bocs/agendas/2011/0208/11-O.pdf

Whirlpool: Currently there is no space for the whirlpool. Therefore, it is located in the shower... There are only 4 shower heads so space is already limited.

Ice Machine: Currently our staff has to go to the concession stand to obtain ice.

Bathrooms/Showers: ...there is one toilet, 2 urinals and 4 shower heads... we have over 30 players and staff utilizing the same bathroom space...

Visiting Clubhouse: ... Due to the lack of space and conditions some teams have chose to shower and change off-site at the hotel instead of using the clubhouse.