Bryce Harper brushes off concerns despite Phillies dramatic loss to Arizona Diamondbacks

Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies endured a tough loss on Sunday. The Arizona Diamondbacks beat them in a wild 11-9 game, preventing the Phillies from getting a sweep at home.

Some pitching concerns popped up after the bullpen struggled in that game. The Phillies are also a second-place team right now, which has prompted other concerns about the overall team.

Despite all of that, Harper is not worried. He's pretty proud of the effort in the loss. He said via The Athletic:

“We could have laid down and just said, ‘Hey, we won the series already.' And we didn’t do that. Just a really good hard-fought game. I know we lost, but I thought we fought till the end.”

The Phillies overcame a six-run deficit at one point during the game, but the lack of impact arms who could get outs hurt them as the Diamondbacks earned a two-run win.

Harper's slow start to the season has been one of the causes for concern. He hasn't hit a home run since April 18, but manager Rob Thomson said he's far from worried about the two-time MVP, and Harper himself is not worried about the team.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson isn't ready to panic on Bryce Harper

Former Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper has been excellent for the Philadelphia Phillies since coming over. This year, he's struggling a bit, as he's only hitting .234 with six home runs.

Despite that lack of production, manager Rob Thomson is not concerned. He thinks Harper is perhaps being a little too hard on himself, but he also knows he'll turn it around.

He said before Sunday's loss via The Athletic:

"He puts a lot of pressure on himself. His expectations of himself are higher than anybody else. And he knows how important he is to the ballclub, to the city and the franchise. And so he wears it. He really does. That’s who he is. But I can tell you this: He’s handled it a lot better than he has in the past this year.”

Thomson said that the MLB star has remained calm and been a really good teammate this year, even when he's struggled, so Harper has still been good and impactful for the team despite a lackluster presence at the plate right now.

About the author

Zachary is a journalist covering NFL, Professional Golf, esports, and Major League Baseball at Sportskeeda. He has a degree in writing/editing from Southern Adventist University (USA), and in his spare time, he likes to play games such as Minecraft, Pokémon and Fortnite, or watch sports.

Ever since he was a youth football wide receiver, Zachary has been an avid NFL fan. He loves the Carolina Panthers, with Cam Newton being his all-time favorite player (with respect to the close second, Steve Smith). If you ever meet Zachary, prepare to hear all about how underrated Newton was and how he single-handedly dragged the Panthers to Super Bowl 50.

Zachary is also a big fan of top golfers like Tiger Woods, Wyndham Clark, and Scottie Scheffler. He enjoys watching them and hopes that Woods can return to form soon and win again.

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Edited by Victor R. Lopez M.