The Nationals surely weren’t showcasing him, but Bryce Harper might have shown another way he could get to the Yankees next year.
The outfielder put in pregame work Monday afternoon taking ground balls at first base, a position he has never played in 850 career games but where he has told Nationals manager Dave Martinez he wants to play, according to the Washington Post.
“It’s just kind of him getting outside of his comfort zone and doing something different,” Martinez said. “And he’s actually not bad. I don’t know if he’ll ever start a game there, but I believe if we’re in a pinch, some kind of decisions in-game, he probably could play there. So it was good to see him out there feeling good working with [infield coach Tim Bogar]. Like I said, here’s a guy that, love him to death because he’ll do whatever it takes for this team to win and help win and that’s part of who Bryce is.”
Harper may have been trying to give Martinez some more options for how to write out the lineup. The Nationals have four outfielders — Harper, Juan Soto, Adam Eaton and Michael A. Taylor — playing well, though they’re not exactly thin at first base, either, with Daniel Murphy and Mark Reynolds splitting time and Matt Adams and Ryan Zimmerman on the way back from injuries.
But, as with anything that Harper does in his walk year — like shaving his beard the day the Yankees came to town last month — it drew wishful thinking about his potential future in pinstripes. The five-time All-Star has long been connected to the Yankees, the team he grew up rooting for.
Once the Yankees traded for Giancarlo Stanton last winter, though, it seemingly filled up their outfield. Stanton is signed through 2028, Aaron Judge through 2022, Aaron Hicks through 2019 and Brett Gardner has a team option for 2019 — not to mention Jacoby Ellsbury (2020) and Clint Frazier (2024).
Now, one long-shot path for Harper to the Bronx is at first base. Greg Bird has struggled to get in a groove since coming off the disabled list, entering Tuesday batting .198 with a .733 OPS.
