Control the zone and 'let's go': Harper's goal in '26 is simple

CLEARWATER, Fla. -- Just as Bryce Harper predicted last month, Aaron Judge hit behind him on Tuesday in Team USA’s exhibition against the Giants in Arizona.

Judge could hit behind Harper throughout the World Baseball Classic, which should be fun to watch. It’s still unclear who will hit behind Harper on Opening Day. It could be Kyle Schwarber, if Harper hits second. It could be Alec Bohm, if Harper hits third.

But no matter who hits behind Harper, he will need to handle his business in the batter’s box.

“Just try to stay as calm as I can,” Harper said following Saturday’s Grapefruit League game against the Blue Jays. “I tried to do that pretty much all camp, just trying to get pitches in the zone and swing at strikes and take my walks when I can. I feel like I’ve done a good job of that for the first four games I played. Yeah, just trying to slow down.”

A refresher: Harper saw pitches in the zone only 43 percent of time last season, the fewest out of 532 players (minimum 200 pitches). But Harper’s 35.6 percent chase rate (swings at pitches out of the strike zone) was his highest since 2022 (35.7 percent).

This spring, Harper has focused on chasing less.

“I’ve done it before,” he said.

It’s an incredibly small sample size, but Harper batted .375 (3-for-8) with two doubles, one home run, four RBIs, three walks and three strikeouts in four Grapefruit League games before he joined Team USA.

He saw pitches in the zone 45.7 percent of the time, 3.6 points higher than his career mark.

But he chased only 23.5 percent of pitches out of the zone.

“I’ve just got to keep doing it,” Harper said.

Harper has been working on a few swing things. He is quieting his load by minimizing a bat tilt. Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long also described an effort to drive Harper’s pelvis into the ground more, rather than tilting upward during the swing.

“As soon as you move up, you’re literally in and out of the zone,” Long said. “We emphasized that the past few days and he’s caught a couple balls out front. Before, those were rollovers.”

Four of the six balls Harper put in play with the Phillies have been hit at 94.8 mph or harder. A fifth -- a homer on Saturday -- left his bat at 93.8 mph.

“We’ve told him, the big thing is you protect yourself,” Long said. “You know how you protect yourself? You swing at good pitches. And that’s your protection. Your protection is you going up there and controlling the at-bat. Like, with runners in scoring position. It’s a 40 percent chase rate. You can’t live that way. Your numbers are going to continue to go down if you continue to do that. It’s more him getting himself out.

“I had him in Washington [in 2018]. I said, 'You were a 25 percent chase guy. You walked [an MLB-leading 130 times]. I mean, it’s in there. You have it. Let’s go.'”