WASHINGTON _ Blame Bill James.
A few days ago, the longtime baseball analyst and sabermetrician posted a Twitter poll that asked how many current players should be regarded as "superstars." Then, on Thursday, James thanked his followers for their responses and expressed his opinion that Bryce Harper "is nowhere near that standard" of being one of the game's best players.
Now, it's unclear whether James poked the bear. But Harper came out like a man possessed Friday night against the unwitting Phillies. He homered in his first two at-bats, both against besieged starter Nick Pivetta, and staked the Washington Nationals to a touchdown-sized lead en route to a rain-interrupted 7-3 victory before an announced crowd of 35,497 in the nation's capital.
Consider it a reality check for the young Phillies and Pivetta, in particular.
The Nationals might have needed to win to scale the .500 mark for the first time since April 10, but they still have Harper and dynamic shortstop Trea Turner and co-aces Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg. They still won the National League East in four of the past six seasons, including the last two, and they remain the favorite to win it again, slow start or not.
Pivetta is one of the reasons the Phillies are so optimistic about their future. Acquired three years ago from the Nationals for closer Jonathan Papelbon, who is effectively retired, Pivetta posted a 2.57 ERA through five starts this season. And he threw a between-starts bullpen session Tuesday in Miami that had manager Gabe Kapler gushing with praise and wanting to bump fists with anyone within his reach.
"Incredible life on the fastball, spotting up," Kapler said at the time. "There were a lot of celebrations and high-fives after his 'pen today. All of this is to say that he's got a chance to be really good."
But Pivetta's future, like those of so many other young Phillies players, is still a matter of projection. And his performance against the Nationals _ 11 batters faced, 46 pitches thrown, three outs recorded, six runs allowed _ represented both the shortest and worst start of his brief career.
Harper took Pivetta's fourth pitch of the game deep to left field. In four games since being moved into the leadoff spot, he's 6-for-17 with four homers and a 1.059 slugging percentage. For the season, Harper has 12 homers and a 1.073 OPS in 106 at-bats.
Pivetta issued back-to-back walks to Turner and Matt Adams, and after RBI singles by Ryan Zimmerman and Matt Wieters, the Nationals had a 3-0 lead.
It didn't get any better for Pivetta in the second inning. Wilmer Difo drew a leadoff walk, Harper crushed a two-run homer into the batter's eye in straightaway center field, and Turner singled to knock Pivetta from the game. Adams greeted long reliever Drew Hutchison with a first-pitch two-run homer, and the rout was on.
The game became official following a 39-minute rain delay in the fourth inning. And after play resumed, Carlos Santana and Maikel Franco hit back-to-back homers against Nationals reliever Trevor Gott to account for the final margin.
But as the Phillies lost for the fifth time in six games, Harper and the Nationals offered a reminder of their might.
