CINCINNATI \u2014 Bryce Harper is going back to the Home Run Derby.<\/p>\n
The Phillies\u2019 first baseman announced Thursday on Instagram that he will participate in Monday night\u2019s Derby at Citizens Bank Park, giving the hometown crowd one of the event\u2019s biggest draws.<\/p>\n
It will be Harper\u2019s third career Derby appearance and first since 2018, when he won the event over now-teammate Kyle Schwarber at Nationals Park. He also participated in 2013 at Citi Field, finishing second to Yoenis C\u00e9spedes.<\/p>\n
This one will come in a different uniform, in a different home ballpark and in front of a fan base that has embraced him since he signed with the Phillies before the 2019 season.<\/p>\n
Harper enters the event with 20 home runs this season. He has also found a groove recently after breaking out a heavier 35-ounce bat during his cycle against the Mets on June 21. Since then, Harper has been in a rhythm.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHear from Bryce Harper after collecting his first career cycle!\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
He said Wednesday that he would not use that same bat in the Derby.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d probably use just a normal one,\u201d Harper said, smiling. \u201cI don\u2019t think I could last if I did that too many swings.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bigger factor was finding the right pitcher. Harper\u2019s father, Ron, pitched to him in each of his first two Derby appearances, including the 2018 win in Washington. Harper said Wednesday that multiple people had reached out this time, but comfort mattered most.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m not comfortable doing it, I won\u2019t do it,\u201d Harper said.<\/p>\n
One day later, he had his answer.<\/p>\n
Harper\u2019s decision also gives the Phillies at least one participant in the Derby, with Kyle Schwarber\u2019s status still worth watching. Schwarber entered Thursday leading the majors in home runs.<\/p>\n
The Derby is scheduled for Monday at 8 p.m. on Netflix, one night before Citizens Bank Park hosts the 96th MLB All-Star Game.<\/p>\n
Harper already has one Derby title.<\/p>\n
Now he\u2019ll try for another in South Philadelphia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CINCINNATI \u2014 Bryce Harper is going back to the Home Run Derby. The Phillies\u2019 first baseman announced Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":791946,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,266099,82],"class_list":["post-791945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-phillies-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791945","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=791945"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791945\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/791946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=791945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=791945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=791945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}