Opposing Pitchers Still Afraid of Phillies Superstar Despite His Struggles

Bryce Harper hit a home run on Opening Day for the Philadelphia Phillies.

It seemed like that was going to catapult the two-time NL MVP into a campaign that could potentially secure him a third. However, while the superstar was hitting the ball well, he didn't have the typical power that he's showcased throughout his career.

Harper didn't hit another long ball until April 9, but there weren't a lot of worries since he still had a batting average of .279 at the time.

And when he hit three homers in four games during mid-April, it looked like he was back on track.

Since that point, though, it's been a major struggle for Harper.

He's gone 13-for-62 with just one deep shot, six extra-base hits and nine RBI, looking like a complete shell of himself with his season-long slash line now at .229/.349/.403.

It's still early, and the underlying metrics suggest a major breakout is coming, but the frustration for the Phillies star is evident with him trying multiple things at the plate in search of finding some success.

Despite the struggles Harper has had, it's clear opposing pitching staffs are still fearing him.

Per Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the slugger has faced the fewest percentage of pitches inside the strike zone (42%), which is eight percentage points below the league average.

Much of that might have to do with the types of pitches he's facing.

42% of the pitches he sees in an at-bat are breaking balls, the second-highest among National League hitters behind only his teammate Nick Castellanos (45%).

That naturally lends to more misses outside of the zone since those are designed to create chase, but it's still notable that this is the approach opposing pitching staffs are having with Harper in the early going of the campaign.

Philadelphia has tried to protect their star this season.

They moved Kyle Schwarber out of the leadoff spot and behind Harper to deter pitchers from just walking Harper without challenging him, and while that has helped this offense overall, the struggling slugger has not seen the benefit of that for himself just yet.

It will be up to Harper for this to change.

If he's going to get more fastballs in a given at-bat, he needs to start punishing these breaking pitches by either hitting them at a high rate or putting them over the fence when he connects.

Again, that should come.

His hard hit rate is 49.1%, his expected batting average is .268 and his expected slugging percentage is .483, all signs that he has gotten a bit unlucky to this point.

Still, the results have not come for Harper, and that is creating clear frustration.

But once he figures it out, then this offense will go to another level.

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