/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58904463/usa_today_10677533.0.jpg)
Bryce Harper, in case you forgot, is still coming off a pretty scary injury to his knee. When he hit a monster home run in Game 2 of the NLDS (they won the game, lost the series, not that it needed specification), it was a sign that everything was clicking and that Bryce was still Bryce.
However, since Spring Training games began, Harper hadn’t yet quite looked like the Bryce Harper of pre-injury days. Which wasn’t really a problem, because it was Spring Training, and it legitimately does not matter nor does it have any correlation to regular season success:
2017 Spring Training HR leaders (Reg Season Total)
— Devan Fink (@DevanFink) March 4, 2018
Bird - 8 (9)
Harper - 8 (29)
Aguilar - 7 (16)
Blash - 7 (5)
Marrero - 7 (1)
O'Brien - 7 (0)
Contreras - 6 (21)
Duvall - 6 (31)
Franco - 6 (24)
Park - 6 (0)
Pederson - 6 (11)
Russell - 6 (12)
Stassi - 6 (2)
All of which is to say, Bryce Harper connected for a two-run home run in yesterday’s game against the Tigers, and it was glorious. Absolutely glorious.
Here's a Bryce Harper HR and a reminder to turn your sound on. pic.twitter.com/pEsYAafPsb
— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) March 4, 2018
Sure, it didn’t have the distance that typically defines Harper’s midseason blasts — but into the wind this early in the spring isn’t a bad place to start.
It should also be noted that Harper is coming off of surgery to remove an ingrown toenail, so maybe the toenail was what was hampering his ability to hit those coveted early-March bombs.