Is it good form for a player to publicly question his manager’s lineup? Nope. Not at all. But Bryce Harper did it and, for the most part, was criticized in a proportionate manner. And of course the Nats are winning right now, so that makes things better.
Still, I feel like we’re going to be seeing hot takes about Harper not knowing his place for a while. Jason Reid of the Washington Post has one today. A few days after the fact, of course. And, more importantly, a few days after the Harper-Williams tiff -- to the extent you can call it a tiff -- had been resolved. If you don’t believe me, read Adam Kilgore’s story from the same Washington Post running Reid’s hot take:
Kilgore -- who, unlike Reid, covers the Nats on a daily basis -- is the guy to go to for what’s actually going on. And to read his story is to realize that, an ill-advised comment notwithstanding, Williams and Harper are basically good with one another and the tiff, or whatever, is over.
At least with the people who matter. If the Nats do anything other than win the NL East and make a deep playoff run I presume some tourist who doesn’t cover the Nats that often will swoop in with some “the seeds of the Nationals’ failure were sewn back in late June . . .” take. Because that’s how this stuff usually works.