How key at-bats unlocked Bryce Harper's left-handed hot streak, per MLB analyst

Bryce Harper is finally beginning to look like the superstar he's been for years. The first baseman is now hitting .272 with five home runs, 14 RBIs and a .910 OPS.

That has largely been thanks to some excellent play in the last seven days. In that time, he's hitting .320 with three home runs, nine RBIs, seven walks and only four strikeouts.

MLB analyst Mark DeRosa broke down why the Philadelphia Phillies star is hitting so well now. Harper showed off some excellent at-bats in which he took on daunting left-handed pitching and began to get familiar with how those arms are attacking him.

Sliders coming across the zone have been troublesome, but he's learning more and more with every at-bat:

"Bryce is really starting to have an idea where those 17 inches are against left-handed sliders ... He thinks he got one, almost went oppo homer. But all these ABs are starting to build on themselves, so you had to have known he's going to get scorching hot, coming off those ABs, and that's exactly what happened.

"They came home, he gets in the friendly confines of Citizen's Bank Park, and it's game on. He is able to eliminate sides of the field ... game on."

DeRosa also cited that Harper is fifth in OPS+ since 2021, trailing only Yordan Alvarez, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge in that time frame, so he was always due for some highs.

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Bryce Harper makes good on prediction

Last week, Bryce Harper admitted he'd been struggling but felt like he was close. He nearly went out of the park to the opposite field against the St. Louis Cardinals, but he flew out at the last step of the warning track.

Bryce Harper's timeline was spot on (Imagn)

At the time, Harper said via MLB that the last week has been good:

"I hit a couple balls really hard in Atlanta. I hit a couple balls [hard] this series as well. I think I’m on time. I think I’m not swinging too much at the slider as much as I did early in the year. I said to [hitting coach Kevin] Long about a week ago, ‘Give me 10 days and we’ll be good.’ So, we’re about on the seventh day right now. We’ll see.”

The two-time National League MVP hit a home run and drew a walk on the ninth day of that 10-day frame. He hit another home run, a single and added two walks on the 10th day.