Top of the Order: I Love Watching Bryce Harper Hit Dingers

Welcome again to Top of the Order, the place each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I’ll be beginning your baseball day with some information, notes, and ideas in regards to the recreation we love.

Fun with small samples: Bryce Harper entered Tuesday hitting .000/.154/.000 over his first 13 plate appearances of the season, with 5 strikeouts. After his second profession three-homer recreation on Tuesday, he’s now at .200/.294/.800, good for a WRC+ improve of 198 factors (from -34 to 164).

Harper put the Phillies on his again in a 9-4 win over the Reds, driving in six runs with the three homers — one a grand slam — that mixed for 1,209 ft of distance and left the bat at 108, 103, and 108 mph. The grand slam, a left-on-left blast towards Brent Suter, made the rating on the time 8-1 and allowed the Phillies to cruise to a win utilizing simply two pitchers — an essential reprieve for an overworked bullpen. Not a nasty day on the job, and a much-needed good one for a Philadelphia staff that entered the day 1-3 on the younger season.

There’s simply one thing so aesthetically interesting about watching Harper hit homers, particularly into the raucous crowd at Citizens Bank Park. His lengthy balls aren’t the toughest hit in baseball, nor do they journey the farthest. But seeing his ferocious swing unload and ship a ball deep into the Philadelphia evening is an unmatched view throughout the game. It’s the antithesis of my favourite right-handed residence runs to observe: the liners that Giancarlo Stanton smokes. Stanton out of the blue turns his hips, flicks his wrists, and launches absolute rockets with what seems to be like no effort by any means. Harper places his whole physique into each swing, hurling his bat into the trail of the incoming projectile, torquing what appears like the load of a number of individuals to ship a ball into flight.

Harper’s future Hall of Fame profession has not been with out its trials and tribulations. He’s all the time been a very good or nice hitter, however there have actually been seasons the place he was extra the previous than the latter. That’s an awfully excessive commonplace to carry him to, however once you’re a first-overall phenom, these are the breaks. Last 12 months, two seasons faraway from successful his second MVP award, it took him a number of months to regain his energy stroke after getting back from Tommy John surgical procedure in document time, however as soon as he did, we had been privileged to observe him clobber 16 of his 21 dingers in August and September. And fortunately, this 12 months we didn’t have to attend wherever close to as lengthy for his thunderous bat to come back alive.

…

Seeing a staff just like the Pirates come out of the gates sizzling is all the time refreshing, although there’s clearly the context of enjoying the Marlins and Nationals, not precisely powerhouses. I’m probably not satisfied that they’re even a .500 staff; most groups may have a five-game successful streak over the course of the season, and beginning the season with one is not any extra indicative of a staff’s expertise degree than ending the season with one to keep away from 100 losses.

But whereas I’ll want much more time to collect ideas for the staff as an entire, I’ve actually appreciated what I’ve seen so removed from catcher Henry Davis. The former first total choose struggled mightily in his debut final 12 months, with a 76 wRC+ and -1.0 WAR in 62 video games, virtually completely enjoying proper area as a substitute of behind the dish. He was value -9 defensive runs saved, and to my eye, the look matched the metrics: He has a really sturdy arm, however his reads had been tough and he usually needed to be bailed out by the second baseman when a not-particularly-shallow fly ball was hit his means.

Back at his pure place, Davis seems to be extra comfy, grading out (within the very early going) as a scratch defender by DRS and really barely above common as a framer. I additionally like how nicely he’s managed the strike zone by his first 21 plate appearances, with as many strikeouts as walks; each charges are vastly improved from final season. Of course, all of that comes with a small-sample caveat, however you’ll be able to’t faux exit velocity as a hitter, so it’s value mentioning that he’s already hit a ball tougher (111.5 mph) this 12 months than he did all of final 12 months (109.9 mph).

Tuesday evening’s acquisition of Joey Bart ought to do nothing to unseat Davis’ place because the beginning catcher, although maybe it’s just a little extra pedigree respiratory down his neck than Jason Delay and the presently injured Yasmani Grandal. It is an fascinating “ships passing in the night” second although for 2 catchers who had been taken throughout the first two picks of their respective drafts.

…

It’s too easy to say that Taylor Trammell is in for a breakout simply because the Dodgers claimed him off waivers and may have enjoying time to supply him with Jason Heyward’s again troubles, however on the similar time, there’s in all probability not a greater match for him. Hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc revitalized J.D. Martinez’s profession a decade in the past and in addition helped Chris Taylor escape, and it’s not implausible to suppose Trammell might be his subsequent turnaround.

Trammell has a wRC+ of simply 83 in his 351 profession huge league plate appearances, and at 26 years previous and out of choices, he’s at one thing of a crossroads. But he was our 61st-ranked prospect on the finish of 2020, so it’s not as if the Dodgers don’t have anything to work with right here. They’re hoping to do what the Reds, Padres, and Mariners all couldn’t: Turn Trammell into a high quality main leaguer earlier than shifting on.