Bryce Harper was about the only hitter who showed up for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic Final. While the rest of the star-studded lineup struggled, the Philadelphia Phillies slugger delivered when it mattered most.
Team USA came into the tournament expecting to dominate. The offensive firepower on paper looked unstoppable. But reality hit hard when those All-Star bats went cold, leaving fans and media wondering what went wrong.
Michael Kay, the Yankees broadcaster, didn’t mince words about the offensive struggles – except when it came to Harper’s performance.
“We can go up and down that All-Star-laden-Hall-of-Fame-to-be lineup and they all crapped the bed. Every single one of them except for Harper,” Kay said. “But the one guy who’s going to get villainized and scrutinized and criticized, the one guy that everybody decides, ‘I’m going to pile on this guy,’ is Aaron Judge, who if you look at his numbers in the WBC, probably had as good a WBC as anybody that played on Team USA.”
Kay’s got a point about the scrutiny. Both Harper and Aaron Judge face intense pressure whenever their teams fall short – that’s what happens when you’re among the game’s elite talents.
This time around, Harper delivered while Judge didn’t. But it’s worth remembering they weren’t the only big names who struggled to get going. The entire lineup, packed with talent, just couldn’t find it’s rhythm when the stakes were highest.
That’s baseball, though. Sometimes the pressure gets to everyone except one guy who steps up and carries the load.
