PHILADELPHIA — After playing the outfield every day for 10 seasons, Bryce Harper always figured he would need to adjust to being a designated hitter, especially as it evolved from a temp job to one that he may hold down through at least the All-Star break.
But the Phillies star probably didn’t expect it to turn him back into a self-conscious teenager.
“I never wanted to be in that mode of, ‘Oh, he’s in the clubhouse,’ ” Harper said the other day before a game in Seattle. “It’s like that young 19-year-old. If I’m in the clubhouse and my team’s playing, it’s like, ‘Oh no, somebody’s going to walk in here and I’m going to get yelled at.’ Which, I know, it’s not going to happen. But it’s still that mentality of wanting to be out there for my guys.”
