Scott Boras on why it has been a tough season so far for Bryce Harper

A visit with Bryce Harper's agent, Scott Boras, illuminates his take on why his client has had struggles at the plate this season. Boras said it boils down to a couple of major issues: the fear factor and the effect of shifts on left-handed power hitters.

Boras said pitchers get more amped up to strike out the Nationals slugger than they do other players because he is who he is.

"I just believe there's an intimidation factor that comes with Bryce and it may have to do with lineup dynamics, but the point is that the adjustment is that the game is going to give you an infrequency of pitches to hit, and they're not doing that with other great players," Boras said.

Boras sees his client also climbing out of the doldrums of the last month. He said Harper's home run Monday is a good sign. Boras believes that it is even more impressive when Harper does connect because a lot of pitchers would rather just give him the free pass.

"So that this adjustment, and I think over the past eight or nine days you've seen a very steep adjustment by Bryce where all of a sudden now his average is up, his slugging and OPS is way up, and so he's looked at this and evaluated it, and certainly the game has gone to a great skill, and said we're going to try something and we're going to make you go to first base rather than swing," Boras said.

Boras also contends the heavy shifts of infielders into right field when left-handed power hitters like Harper step to the plate is unfair. He believes a rule should be implemented like one has seen in football or basketball when a team takes advantage of a likely outcome.

"I certainly have come to the conclusion where shifting is grandly discriminatory against power left-handed hitters," Boras explained. "And the reason for that is you see that four men are on one side of the infield. Against right-handed hitters, they have great advantages in this (setup) - they can only put 2 1/2 men there because they have to be near second base. The third baseman can play second base. They can get four there because the second baseman can go too far away and the first baseman is way over. The other thing is 70 percent of the pitchers are right-handed, so they are getting sliders and breaking balls complement of pitches that are naturally inclined for them where the ball is pitched, and go the other way.

"So when you see that component, particularly for the fielders, and for the right-handed hitters, they can take a natural approach to the game as they were trained in their youth. They can go the other way or hit a slider, hit a curveball the other way. Where as a left-hander, you're saying they're supposed to hit everything the other way and now the breaking ball is coming in, the slider is coming in, the fastballs are in, and you are now supposed to take an inside-out swing? That's not how a power hitter is trained. So you're affecting baseball on many, many levels in a negative way."

But back to Harper's homer Monday. Boras said that is why there is such a fear for a pitcher to face Harper, because he can pull off a shot like that. Boras believes Harper homers are more than just the ball leaving the park. They make a lasting impression on the opponent's pitching staff.

"You wonder why there's a fear and then you see what happened last night. You see that ball - two curveballs you take, and then all of a sudden, you see the ball leave the ballpark like that," Boras said. "That's not a home run, that's a memorable moment of fear for 13 arms that are sitting over there and everyone that watched, because few people can hit the ball like that and the sound of it, and a lot of times greatness is negotiating with the game at many levels."

Boras argues that it hurts that pitcher's psyche more if they give up a homer to Harper than if they give one up to some other major league player. Boras says those pitchers would rather just walk Harper and that is one reason why he hasn't put up his usual gaudy numbers this season.

"You keep having to ask the question, why don't they do this to other players if it's so effective?" Boras asked. "Why don't they walk all these great players at these great rates, why don't they do that if it's such a great routine, and the answer is that teams feel the benefit of pitching to those players - there's much less of a consequence than there is than to pitch to Harp. What is that consequence? I would assume it has to do with this extraordinary power."

It is, of course, an agent talking about his major client, who is in a free agent year. But it is an argument that Harper has had to contend with a lot this season, not getting many strikes to swing at. And in order for the Nats to be successful, they need Harper at the point where he is putting bat on ball more frequently.