Baker on focused Harper's spring power surge

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Of all the developments for the Nationals this spring, none has been more positive - or welcome - than to see Bryce Harper once again battering the bejeezums out of baseballs.

Harper homered again Friday, accounting for the home team's lone run in a 7-1 loss to the Cardinals. His fourth-inning blast off right-hander Mike Leake wasn't a cheapie, either - he deposited it over the fence in right-center and halfway up the grass berm.

That clout gave Harper four spring homers, all of them loudly struck no-doubters. It was his second straight game with a roundtripper and his third since the calendar turned from February to March, a span of six games.

Through nine games, Harper is slashing .333/.417/.952 with six RBIs. Whatever was sapping his power last season - opponents' intentional walks got him out of his early-season power surge and something, perhaps a neck or shoulder problem, contributed to a .226/.336/.373 downturn in the second half - seems to have been replaced by a singular spring focus.

Dusty Baker likes what he sees. Of course, the Nationals manager never tires of watching Harper abuse cork and yard cloaked in stitched cowhide.

"Not really," Baker said. "I'm hoping he perfects it so he can keep doing it."

Nothing like a slugger on a mission to erase any lingering doubts.

"He was the MVP two years ago, so he didn't like the kind of year he had last year," Baker said of Harper. "I remember one spring Kevin Mitchell hit about 15 (homers in spring) and everybody said, 'Hey, man, cool out.' No, I want him to perfect it. And he went on to hit like 49. No, I'm glad (Harper is) ahead of pace and ahead of schedule. It'll be big going into April to get us off to a good start."

For most hitters, a 24-homer, 86-RBI season like Harper put up in 2016 would be satisfactory. But Harper isn't any hitter and Baker is conscious about a slugger's ability to turn his power on at will. Harper's power switch got stuck in the downward position after a May series in which Cubs manager Joe Maddon ordered him intentionally passed again and again.

And because he has significant experience with a slugger's psyche, Baker is cognizant of the fact that a power stroke can become suddenly and maddeningly ineffective. He doesn't want to see that with Harper, hence his preference to not restrict his governors.

"We just have to be conscious of him getting stale, getting bored," Baker said. "I don't see him doing that. That's what Barry Bonds used to do. He'd come in, get his stroke together, then get bored and have to turn it back on again."

Harper's homer was the lone highlight in an otherwise forgettable afternoon that saw relievers Trevor Gott and Matt Grace get roughed up for five runs (three earned) on four hits in a fourth inning that turned the tide the Cardinals' way.

Gott and Grace bore the brunt of a weird inning that included a fly ball that dropped 40 feet in front of center fielder Adam Eaton for a single after he lost it in the sun, an error charged to second baseman Stephen Drew when he couldn't catch third baseman Anthony Rendon's feed on a potential inning-ending double play grounder and a run-scoring wild pitch.

"It was an ugly (fourth) inning," Baker said. "Sun ball - you can't help that, it's going to happen sometimes. We had an error - that's going to happen sometimes. (Wild pitch) is going to happen sometimes. But they were really running the bases aggressively on us. They've had their way with us so far this spring."

The Nationals are 0-4-1 against the Cardinals this spring,

Friday's game marked the debut of righty reliever Joe Blanton, who struck out Eric Fryer looking in a 1-2-3 sixth inning.

"Blanton was surprisingly sharp for his first time out," Baker said. "That goes to show you how he's really worked in the offseason. ... They were all strikes or near strikes."

Starter Gio González worked three innings and was undone by jams in the second and third, when a bases-loaded sacrifice fly plated the only run he allowed. But González was able to keep the Cardinals largely at bay and was charged with only one run on four hits. He walked one and fanned four.

"Gio was very good," Baker said. "He ended up giving up one run. He was in trouble that one inning, but he minimized the damage. That's the secret. If you can master damage control, then you'll be around and you'll win games."