NEWSLETTER
New Phillies slugger Bryce Harper got himself booted from his team’s series opener against the Mets last night after arguing calls at the plate.
He was extremely unhappy:
Angry Bryce Harper.pic.twitter.com/ABUbexUwEY
— Sporting News MLB (@sn_mlb) April 23, 2019
You know, it happens. That was probably quite a bit more anger than would otherwise be justified in the 4th inning of an April game against a division rival, but sometimes it just wells up in you and you pop. I probably wouldn’t be writing a post about this incident without the comments that followed from Jake Arrieta.
The outspoken former Cubs righty had this to say about his new teammate’s ejection, within the context of the overall team performance (Phillies.com): “I don’t think our guys were ready to play. We were flat. The dugout was flat. The defense wasn’t good. We didn’t throw the ball well as a staff overall. We got beat …. It’s troubling, yeah. I’m out there doing everything I can to win a game. I need my guys behind me and they weren’t …. We need [Harper] in right field. I don’t care how bad [the umpire] is. I need him in right field, I need him at the plate and he wasn’t there. So that hurts. I’m out there, trying to make pitches, he misses some calls. So what? Like, we need him out there. We were flat from start to finish. Two-hour delay, it doesn’t matter. We have to be ready to play. We weren’t and it showed.”
Yeesh. Not that you’d expect otherwise, but Arrieta definitely holding nothing back right there.
Having no dog in the Phillies-related phight, I’m just here to be entertained. Obviously a whole lot has been invested in the success of the team this year, and with some big and unique personalities – including manager Gabe Kapler – in a city like Philadelphia, the recipe is there for outsiders like us to be entertained.
