MLB rumors: Ex-Yankee knows why Nationals’ Bryce Harper is struggling and how to fix his swing

Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will become a free agent after the 2018 MLB season. Several deep-pocket teams, including the Yankees and Phillies, will be interested in the 25-year-old slugger, who won the 2015 National League MVP. Harper could get a contract worth $400 million or more.

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Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will become a free agent after the 2018 season. With several deep-pocket teams, including the Yankees and Phillies, interested in the 25-year-old slugger, Harper will get a contract which could reach or exceed $400 million.

But any team willing to pay that much money has to be concerned with what Harper is doing this season. 

Yes, he does lead the National League with 19 home runs.

But he’s batting a career-worst .217. Last year, he hit .319. When Harper won the 2015 National League MVP, he hit .330.

So what’s going on with the perennial All-Star?

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Nationals hitting coach (and ex-Yankees and Mets coach) Kevin Long talked to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic to explain what’s wrong with Harper:

Certainly when you see your average start to tumble, you’re trying real hard. He starts expanding. He tries harder and really, really expands the zone. He’s gotta stay in the strike zone, bottom line. When he swings at good pitches, he’s deadly.

That’s part of it. Part of it, too, is he wants to hit home runs. And when you want to hit home runs, instead of just squaring the ball up, it’s a hard thing to do. But when he squares the ball up, mostly he hasn’t gotten any love, nothing. When you’re hitting .213 on balls in play, it’s hard to do — almost impossible, especially as hard as he hits the ball.

He is jumping a little bit more, getting really low in his load, which causes him to jump up and get out of his swing. He’s working on that. There are some things he can do better mechanically. But at the end of the day, his swing is what it is. He’s had that swing his whole career.

(The results) are going to change. Right now, we’re in a really good spot as a team. He knows that, and that’s helping him. I’ve got to believe he’s probably going to end up around .270 at the end of the year. He believes it. I believe it.

The way he works . . . he hit early both days at Yankee Stadium. He hit on an off-day. The will is there. He wants to be great. He wants to be the best. He does everything he can to do that. When you have that kind of work ethic, it will turn around.

Mike Rosenstein may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @rosenstein73. Find NJ.com on Facebook.