Bryce Harper Justified Striking Out on a Bunt

Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time I’m going to cede and admit Bryce Harper knows more about hitting a baseball than I ever will. That said, what on earth was he thinking Tuesday night in the Bronx against the Yankees trying to bunt with two strikes against Masahiro Tanaka?

Bueller? Bueller? Anyone?

Harper didn’t question his decision afterward, per NJ.com. Seriously:

"“I think with two strikes, you’re just trying to get on base right there,” Harper said. “He threw a good pitch to bunt actually. I just got on top of it and fouled it back. I mean, if I lay it down perfect, actually if I don’t even lay it down perfect, if I just lay it down on the third-base side, I’m safe at first base and I’m on first with (Ryan Zimmerman) coming up.”"

He added:

"“You know, it happens,” Harper said. “I’ve done it before. Bunted with two strikes before. Maybe not at the big league level but I’ve done it before. So it was in my head the whole time when I was 1-2. I went with my gut and it didn’t work.”"

In theory, maaaaaaaybe Harper has a point. It’s a 1-1 game and he’s leading off the inning. All he needs to do in that situation is get on base. Dropping down a Jake Taylor-esque bunt certainly would catch the Yankees off guard considering he’s hit 20 home runs this season. But with two strikes? That’s not very smart, Bryce.

I do love Matt Williams response to it:

"“Yeah, we’ll save that one for another day,” Williams said."

Perhaps we should admire a star player who isn’t above a two-strike bunt attempt.

Nah.