 |
| Harper's popularity is bothering some teammates. Photo credit: USA Today |
Well not everything is going so swimmingly in Nationals land. Despite having a 46-38 record and only one half game behind first place Atlanta, not everyone is on the same page it seems as they continue to battle in this very tonight division race.
By: Michael Hanley
For Washington's sake they better hope its the former in a season where they have a great opportunity to get back to postseason play and make some noise.
When Bryce Harper came back from his disabled list stint, that force Ryan Zimmerman back to playing third base, a position that is not suitable for him given the shoulder problems he has had and the inaccuracy of his throws across the diamond. This move has not sat well with some veteran players in the washington clubhouse.
As reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports,Harper’s star status has rubbed some people the wrong way:
Williams, in his first year managing, is in a difficult if not impossible position. He needs to win over Harper, who, when healthy, is the Nationals' most dynamic player. But Williams also needs to win over his other veterans, some of whom resent that Harper is the most famous and popular Nat even though he has yet to play 140 games in a season and is still only 21.
This comes after Harper has openly expressed gratitude and praise for other teammates such as Ryan Zimmerman and Denard Span. You can understand to a certain degree for why veterans on this Nats ballclub would be jealous of Harper and yearn from the type of attention and popularity he garners on an everyday basis.
Superstardom though is not made for everyone to experience in life, others must be the player that not allot of people know about and just go about their work day in and day out. Plenty of players over the years have embraced the role of just being the veteran who shows up everyday, gives 100% effort and is a leader to the younger players on a team. Many of them do not crave the attention and popularity that some of these veteran players on Washington’s team seems to want badly.
This is all small stuff when it comes to the bottom line which is if they are having success overall. That answer would be yes with their recent play. If this were a true distraction, the team would be in the tank, not able to put any good performances together and everyone on the club would be blaming Harper. Thats not the case at all, just some disgruntled veterans wishing they were 21 again.
Bryce Harper has done nothing but help the team win when he is in the starting lineup. Harper is batting .286 with one home run and 10 RBIs in the limited action he has seen this season. They have won three games since he has returned to the team and look like a team that is rounding into form at just the right time.
They will always be a player or two who is jealous of another one’s success on a team, thats human nature. Its how people can handle another player getting the most attention and accolades that can make all the difference between a team flourishing and coming together to achieve one common goal and one that points fingers, only cares about their individual success and leads the team to bottom out and become disengaged.
For Washington's sake they better hope its the former in a season where they have a great opportunity to get back to postseason play and make some noise.
