To Bryce Harper, the MLB postseason doesn’t add any extra pressure on his life — because he already felt all the added weight.
Harper, who led the Phillies to the NLCS for the second straight year with a win on Thursday night, joined “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday to discuss another Philadelphia playoff run.
Even with all the extra scrutiny and media attention on every single second during October baseball, Harper said he doesn’t feel any extra stress on the diamond because of his experiences as a teenager.
The now-30-year-old was one of the most hyped prospects baseball has ever seen, and he earned his GED during his junior year in high school in order to play at the junior college level as a 17-year-old.
In 2010, he was the No. 1 pick by the Nationals and quickly made the majors two years later as a 19-year-old.
So, with all of that pressure as a young man, Harper said the playoffs, by comparison, are nothing.
“The game, you just go out there and play, you play the same game you’ve been playing your whole life,” Harper said on the ESPN show. “The lights might be brighter, there might be 45,000 people in there. But I love that, I’m all about that. I love going on the road and getting booed, I absolutely do.
“I dropped out of high school at 16, got my GED, went into JUCO. I was like, ‘I have to be the No. 1 pick.’ That’s the pressure, right? That was the pressure. ‘I have to be the No. 1 pick. … If I’m not, I’m a failure. I’m the failure. I have to get my family out, take care of them, do the things I can to just take care of them forever. … Now all of this is cake. This is what it’s all about. This is the fun part.”
Harper’s been on another level this postseason, hitting .368 with three homers and a 1.380 OPS.
He was in the middle of the NLDS’ viral moments when he was first mocked by the Braves’ Orlando Arcia after Game 2 before staring down the Atlanta infielder after crushing two dingers in Game 3.
The Philadelphia slugger even had at least one teammate who supported him in the clubhouse after the series clincher on Thursday, with Orion Kerkering wearing a shirt that read “Atta boy Harper,” trolling what Arcia said.
Last year’s NLCS MVP will again get the chance to show off his swing when the Phillies host the Diamondbacks on Monday.
