Throughout his seven seasons with the Washington Nationals, only a few reporters got to witness the ins and outs of Bryce Harper on a daily basis.
A polarizing figure on and off the field, a player of his caliber can have positive and negative effects on a clubhouse.
Now Harper is wearing a different shade of red with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Nats clubhouse is without a player that garnered a ton of attention over the years.
We asked several reporters that had a front row seat to Harper's time in D.C. how his departure has and will affect the clubhouse, and their answers may surprise you.
NBC Sports Washington's Todd Dybas: "The Nationals clubhouse shouldn't change very much without Bryce Harper in it, at least when it comes to who are the leaders in there. That's clearly Max Scherzer at this point.
"What will change is kind of the circus that always came with Bryce Harper. Not his fault. That's not a dig at him, but that's just the way it was. Out-of-town writers would come in looking to talk to him. He would have to navigate that whole situation and the marketing side of his life. Now the Nationals clubhouse doesn't have to deal with that. The Nationals as a team don't have to deal with that."
The Athletic's David Aldridge: "Some people are thankful that there's a star in there to take all the attention, but there's others who probably are a little rubbed raw by the constant interest. The constant demand of people in front of his locker every day wanting to get a quote or ask him something for social media, whatever it is. So, my guess is that the Nats clubhouse without Bryce Harper will be very different. Will probably be a lot quieter for one, but that is probably what this group of players prefers."
MLB.com's Jamal Collier: "I think Bryce, because of his age and because kind of his relative inexperience compared to the other guys in the room, was comfortable kind of fading in the background in that aspect. As far as team leadership, that wasn't the role he necessarily took. He left that to guys like Max Scherzer, to Ryan Zimmerman, Daniel Murphy, Howie Kendrick and those guys coming up before him. I think when you have a guy who commands such a large presence as he does...I think that'll be the biggest difference you see in this clubhouse is that you won't have the kind of lingering, looming Bryce Harper conversation that surrounds this team as much."
The Washington Times' Thom Loverro: "What was striking to me right from the start was how his absence seemed to have little impact on the room. And it really hit home for me, something I hadn't really thought of, his presence was bigger outside of the clubhouse than it was inside. He wasn't a bad teammate. He wasn't necessarily disliked, but he was not necessarily connected to the fabric of the leadership of that clubhouse. It's Max Scherzer's clubhouse for all intents and purposes.
"I think Bryce Harper on some days was maybe a little bit of an annoyance. On other days, you know, they were happy to have him as a teammate. But I think they've moved on. I mean that room just seems to have even more energy and it doesn’t take much more energy to have energy in the Nats clubhouse cause it's a pretty laid-back clubhouse. But the presence of guys like Victor Robles and Juan Soto seemed to have energized it a little bit more."
MORE NATIONALS NEWS:
https://www.nbcsports.com/washington/nationals/if-youre-not-going-boo-bryce-harper-his-return-nationals-park-please-just-stay-home
2019-04-02 22:37:22Z
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