Last week, some astute folks in the MASN control rooms discovered that Bryce Harper was using a Yasiel Puig-model bat. This was good for a few yuks, and it didn’t make a lick of sense.
The reason Bryce Harper uses a Yasiel Puig-model bat is fascinating
There is an explanation! It’s a good one.
It does now, however. The Washington Post got Harper to explain:
Harper collects the bats not as artifacts, but as experiments. He likes to switch between bats to find out what feels best to him at a given time, or even against a given pitcher. When he finds a bat he likes, he’ll order their model with his name on it. He has no problem swinging a bat with another player’s name on it.
It’s worth remembering that Harper is basically a zygote, still. He’s at an age where he probably shouldn’t be used to swinging wood bats at all, so the experimenting makes sense. Also, there’s a touch of strategery mixed in there, too:
The other day, he used Puig’s bat because it is 34½ inches long, a half-inch longer than the model he typically uses. Against Wade Miley’s slider, which broke away from him, it gave him an extra inch to reach the pitch. He also used it for the same reason against Trevor Cahill, whose sinker breaks big away from a left-handed hitter.
Different pitchers get different bats. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard that before. Baseball players are usually supposed to be the model of consistency, eating the same enchiladas or fidgeting with their batting gloves in exactly the same way, every time. Harper, though, thinks there are square pegs for square pitcher-holes and round pegs for round pitcher-holes.
Makes sense from here. Just don’t wander into the comments.
Honestly, this might shed some light on what’s so great about Anthony Rendon - the kid just plays. Harper might be thinking just a bit too much.
Dammit.
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