:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/49039769/2986746_Bryce_Harper.0.0.jpg)
When he accepted his NL MVP Award this past November, Bryce Harper joked about all the so-called "haters" who boo him on the road around the league.
"I absolutely love it," the 23-year-old unanimous MVP said. "I really do."
"I enjoy getting booed when I go to places. It makes me thrive, it makes me play well and that's something I enjoy. Jayson [Werth] always messes with me and says, 'If you don't like it, then stop doing all your stupid commercials,' and everything like that. But there's some truth to that. But I enjoy doing that stuff."
Apparently Harper does "enjoy doing that stuff" and please don't take it personally that Werth called all these commercials "stupid" Gatorade peeps because Harper's latest commercial spot "dropped" this morning.
It was apparently filmed during Harper's "iced" out hair phase and shows images of Harper "... comprised of data points" that "... demonstrate how their bodies serve as the canvas with which [Gatorade] creates sports fuel innovations."
What does "Data Point Harper" look like? And really, that hair doesn't look so bad does it?
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/6171275/2986746_Bryce_Harper.0.jpg)
You can watch the new ad below:
After the MVP-worthy 2015 campaign the then-22-year-old right fielder put together last year, which saw him lead the NL in On-Base Percentage (.460 OBP), Slugging Percentage (.649 SLG), Wins Above Replacement (9.5 fWAR), Weighted On-Base Average (.461 wOBA), Weighted Runs Created Plus (198 wRC+), Isolated Power (.319 ISO), Runs Scored (118) and Home Runs (42, tied for first), Harper said he prepared for the 2016 season the same way that he prepared the previous winter.
Nick Johnson talks Harper, Turner after visiting Nationals
Photo © Jamie Squire/Getty Images
"Exact same thing I did last year I did this year," Harper told reporters upon arriving at Spring Training.
"Stuck with the same routine, stuck with everything I could to just feel good. Feel great coming into Spring.
"Swing feels awesome. Made no changes with that. Program, routine, everything like that, the same every single day. Took my month off and got right back into it with everything."
If only Gatorade was studying writers and monitoring us using data points to try to maximize our performance and recovery. I will, however, say, that I don't know how I ever lived without Green Apple Gatorade...