Bryce Harper facing former team first time brings extra pressure for Phillies

Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies hope to remain undefeated after Tuesday’s meeting with the Washington Nationals.

While there were plenty of reasons for Bryce Harper to be excited about joining the Philadelphia Phillies heading into the 2019 season, one of the factors that stood out the most was the opportunity to face his former team in the Washington Nationals each season.

Since the Nationals play in the same division as their rivals, joining the Phillies meant Harper would get to face the team he spent 2012-18 playing for on numerous occasions in each year, with the first occurrence coming on Tuesday night.

Deep down, Harper realizes Tuesday is going to be filled with all sorts of emotions since he’s not only returning to the team that helped jumpstart his career, but also will be seeing a fan base that is still furious over his decision to join Philadelphia.

All along, the Nationals knew that it was only a matter of time before Harper received one of the largest contracts in MLB history, but watching the star outfielder join a rival within the division made the process even more painful to deal with.

To top it off, Harper has turned things around after failing to record a hit Opening Day by going deep in each of his last two games for the Phillies. And while the matchup against Max Scherzer may not work into Harper’s favor, there’s nothing he would love more than to increase his home-run streak to three games.

Of course, that’s always easier said than done since similar to the pressure he felt Opening Day after signing that whopping $330 million, Harper will be dealing with a similar feeling on Tuesday during his first trip back to Washington.

Hostile doesn’t even begin to describe the kind of environment it’s expected to be at Nationals Park with Washington fans making sure Harper knows just how upset they are with their former outfield.

The good news for the Phillies is even if Harper struggles in his first game against his former team, it really isn’t the end of the world. If anything, Philadelphia has their eyes set on the long run with this team since after three games, Harper’s presence is already having a major impact on production, and it’s only going to continue getting better from here.