Too Many Chefs In The Kitchen: Evaluating Bryce Harper's Return

When I was just a little B-Court All-Star Junior, as a shy introverted kid I often preferred getting lost in my own imagination to playing with others. I was also an athlete and obsessed with numbers and statistics. It wasn't enough to pretend I was on an NBA team taking the game-winning shot...all of my sports fantasies had to be tracked. I actually had a notebook that logged everything from my fictitious basketball career's points per game to the card for each Pay Per View wrestling event for my GI Joe action figures.

For the record, Snake Eyes was my all-time leader in World Heavyweight Championship reigns.

Summertime was when I got the most bored and had the least other sports to follow, so baseball became a key cog in this fantasy world (even though I never played organized baseball as a kid). I imagined an entire lineup and batting order, complete with game-by-game box scores. When my made-up franchise made a mid-season trade for an All-Star infielder in exchange for a minor league prospect, it was impossible to choose which star putting up video game numbers to bench...instead, I simply rotated 10 guys through the 9 positions (my fantasy team had a DH, and several players were versatile enough to play multiple positions, of course).

However, as the Nationals are figuring out now, things just aren't as simplistic in real life baseball as they were when I used to play make-believe. This past offseason, Washington took a gamble that they could make it through 1 more season with Ryan Zimmerman at 3rd base. But his shoulder and throwing mechanics are so f***ed that routine throws to 1st are adventures now. With young stud Anthony Rendon primed to take over at 3rd and Adam LaRoche penciled in at 1st base, Zimmerman's only real move is to the outfield. But with Bryce Harper returning to the lineup from a thumb injury, Nats' Manager Matt Williams now has a real dilemma.

Not a clown question, bro.

When healthy, the Nats could very well be the best team in baseball on paper. Their starting rotation may be the best in baseball 1-5. And their lineup is already solid from top to bottom, but even at 21 Harper is probably their most feared and dynamic hitter. His return should provide a jolt and boost up everyone else as well.

But its Williams' job to juggle playing time, positions, batting orders, and egos here. He has already clashed with Harper once, and maybe unnecessarily, this year. (Harper was benched and publicly called out by Williams for failing to run out a ground ball...Harper happened to be nursing a quad injury and was reportedly under the weather at the time.) Now, not even 1 day after being back in the bigs, Harper is chirping about what the lineup should look like and where he should hit.

As it stands, Williams and the Nats have no easy solution. Harper's got to play...that much is easy. Right field belongs to Jason Werth though. Put Harper in left and that puts Zimmerman back at 3rd, Anthony Rendon at 2nd, and Danny Espinosa on the pine. Espinosa always strikes out a ton and is hitting a miserable .217 right now, but that would hurt Washington's defensive infield significantly. Zimmerman's struggles at 3rd are well-documented, and while Rendon can play 2nd, 3rd is his more natural position. LaRoche has arguably been the Nats best hitter this year. He also is one of the best defensive 1st basemen in the league, so moving Zimmerman there seems unlikely at this point.

The Nats could put Harper in center field, a position he has played well and has publicly voiced that he prefers, but that would drop Denard Span out of the lineup. No one is going to argue that Span can out-hit Harper, but that move could hurt in a couple of ways. 1st, Harper plays center adequately, but Span is one of the better defensive center fielders in the league. Also, Span is the 1 player in the Nats' lineup that is truly a leadoff hitter. Others, like Jason Werth, have filled that role in prior seasons, but no one else is a natural fit for that spot like Span is.

Good luck!

If only the Nats could magically move to the American League at the All-Star break, then they could play everyone and rotate guys into that DH spot to give a player a rest while keeping their bats in the lineup. Alas, that seems about as likely as the Wizards not overpaying to keep Trevor Ariza and Marcin Gortat (oops). So, to solve this the Nationals either need to make a trade or simply just play out the messy situation of rotating guys in and out of the lineup based on matchups, who might need a night off, etc. Having too many good players is not the worst problem to have. The odds in any sport are that someone will go down with an injury again sooner than later, and Williams will adjust the lineup accordingly. Until one of those things happen though, the Nationals are faced with a sticky situation as they try for another playoff push.