The longest home run drought of Bryce Harper's career is over. The Philadelphia Phillies star snapped a 37-game homer drought with a no-doubt solo blast against San Diego Padres lefty Ryan Weathers in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader (GameTracker). Harper, a two-time MVP, went a career-high 166 plate appearances between homers.
Here is Harper's drought-ending homer. He last went deep on May 25.
Harper returned from Tommy John surgery on May 2, less than six months out from surgery, and has been hitting well despite the lack of home runs. He entered Saturday night's game with a .290/.384/.397 batting line and three homers in 57 games. That's a typical Harper batting average and on-base percentage, though the power is lacking.
"I'm not where I want to be. I'm not hitting the homers that I want or anything like that," Harper told MLB.com prior to the All-Star break. "I'm getting the hits when I need them. I still feel like I'm having good at-bats. I still feel like I'm going out there and plugging along. We have a long way to go."
The 37-game home run drought is far and away the longest of Harper's career. His previous career long was a 25-game drought last year around a broken thumb. Harper has gone at least 20 games without a homer only four times in his 12-year career.
Philadelphia expects to use Harper at first base at some point in the coming days. He is on a throwing program as part of his Tommy John surgery recovery and has not yet been cleared to make the necessary throws in the outfield.
