Does Bryce Harper need to change the way he plays?

Last Monday at Dodger Stadium, Bryce Harper showed just how hard he plays the game when he collided full-speed into the outfield wall while chasing a fly ball. Luckily he did not suffer a concussion, but the violent hit left him hurting in many other areas.

"Both legs, (left) shoulder, ribs, hand, wrist, chin of course," Harper told the media. He has been day-to-day since then, missing a few games over the course of the week.

While it appears Harper will be none the worse for wear, the incident has sparked an interesting debate over whether Harper will have to change the way he plays or risk serious injuries that could potentially shorten his career.

Since the injury, people have described Harper as ‘negligent’, a ‘daredevil’, ‘irresponsible’, etc. The vast majority of this criticism is overblown. I took much greater issue when Harper hit the wall with a bat and it bounced back and hit him in the head. In that case, he let his emotions get the best of him and it led to an easily avoidable injury. In LA, Harper was just trying to make a play.

With a 162 game season and 27 outs per game, is it smart for Harper to play so hard for each and every out? Perhaps not, but determining when making a play is not worth it is a very grey area as a manager cannot tell his players in the outfield not to play hard to make every catch. Let’s not forget what it was like to watch Barry Bonds in the outfield. When he was not sleeping in the grass or picking flowers, he was trotting after balls like he was just playing catch in his backyard. Nobody wants to see that.

I feel with all this ‘daredevil’rhetoric, people are missing the problem with what happened in LA; Harper misplayed the ball.

When playing the outfield, players need to realize when they can and cannot make a catch so they can position themselves to quickly grab the ball when it hits the ground or the wall. Harper was close to the ball, but as it began to fall he needed to realize he was too close to the wall and would not make the catch. What he should have done was stop and position himself to grab the ball off the wall.

Harper is not being irresponsible in his play. It would be more irrseponsible for him to not try and put himself before the team. What he is guilty of is not knowing where he was on the field. Yes, there is a warning track, but remember that the setup of every MLB field is different. Even with the warning track, it is easy to understand how a 20 year-old can get lost in an unfamiliar park. Field awareness is something Harper will continue to learn.

Harper plays the game hard and he should be commended for that, not criticized. The incident in LA is the result of him playing at 100% and losing track of where he was on the field. Harper is not a daredevil or irresponsible, he’s a young competitor who is still learning to play the outfield. And if you remain unconvinced and still think Harper needs to do more to protect himself, that’s an easy fix. All Davey Johnson needs to do is sit him down and point out the time he misses when he does get injured. If playing means so much to you, don’t hit yourself in the head with a bat or you’ll miss time. Don’t hit the wall or you’ll miss time. With how much Harper loves to play each and every night, he’ll get the message.

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