Considering how much noise came along with Bryce Harper’s free agency, Harper’s having a fairly quiet season. In the first year of his 13-year, $330 million deal with the Phillies, the 26-year-old outfielder is neither excelling nor embarrassing himself: Harper’s .253/.370/.470 hitting line is hardly spectacular, but it’s far from awful, and the 47-43 Phillies are in the thick of the postseason chase but not a lock to play in October.
Harper made four straight All-Star teams from 2015-2018 and he’s probably the most famous active baseball player, so it’s hard to blame whoever was responsible for designing the following banners for putting Harper front and center. But since Harper is not an All-Star in 2019, this seems suboptimal:
To be fair, nowhere on those banners does it say that Harper is a 2019 All-Star. And curiously enough, Harper is not the only non-All-Star depicted in the imagery shared by Braves field reporter Kelsey Wingert. The Marlins’ representative in the National League East banner is pitcher Caleb Smith, who was off to an All-Star-caliber start to the season before missing most of June with injury. Sandy Alcantara, Smith’s rotation-mate, is Miami’s actual 2019 All-Star. Catcher J.T. Realmuto is the Phillies’ lone All-Star this season.
