Bryce Harper is having an impact on the Philadelphia Phillies home run hitters even when he’s not hitting them himself.
On Tuesday, the Phillies jumped out to a second inning 4-0 lead over the Houston Astros in Game 3 of the World Series. Harper got things going once again with a two-run shot off of Lance McCullers Jr. to open the scoring for the Phillies in the first, whipping Philadelphia fans into a frenzy.
After his mammoth home run, Harper then called over Alec Bohm — who was on deck at the time — to talk shop. The inning ended before Bohm got up to bat, but whatever Harper said to him clearly worked after the infielder smoked a first pitch leadoff home run in the second.
First-pitch Bohm bomb 💣
📺: FOX and the FOX Sports App pic.twitter.com/VhFmpUUdwN
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) November 2, 2022
Here’s how Harper’s chat with Bohm went down in the bottom of the first.
In the first inning, Bryce Harper offered some advice to Alex Bohm. In the second inning, Bohm homered off Lance McCullers. pic.twitter.com/j7Nstru9LN
— Rob Tornoe (@RobTornoe) November 2, 2022
Here's Bryce Harper after his home run in the first, calling Alec Bohm over to, presumably, tell him something to look for.
Whatever it was, it worked. pic.twitter.com/LXN6yQBCYt
— Hannah Keyser (@HannahRKeyser) November 2, 2022
It’s hard to say if McCullers was tipping pitches and Harper told Bohm what to look out for, but the Phillies clearly did their due diligence in scouting the Astros pitcher prior to Tuesday’s game.
McCullers, entering today, had thrown one fastball to a left-handed hitter all postseason. Phillies were very aware of this. https://t.co/LEekZsd4qn
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) November 2, 2022
As for what Harper said to Bohm? We’ll likely never know!
"That's between us" 😀 pic.twitter.com/Dd95LU6sMY
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) November 2, 2022
All right then, keep your secrets!
