Harper going the other way more, leading to more hits

You can spend hours upon hours trying to figure out why the Nationals have struggled all season to find offensive consistency, but sometimes it's the simplest explanations that make the most sense.

Like this one: When Bryce Harper hits, the Nats win. When he doesn't, they lose.

The numbers back this up. Harper's offensive slash line in games the Nationals have won this season is a robust .298/.411/.662, which adds up to a 1.073 OPS. His slash line in games the Nationals have lost: .139/.329/.267, for an OPS of .596.

Yeah, that's a pretty big disparity.

This isn't all that uncommon. Many important players around the league have much better numbers in wins than in losses, hence the reason their team's record gets better when the top guys actually hit. But it's an awfully striking disparity in Harper's case.

The good news: He's been hitting the ball much, much better in recent days, and that could be a reason to be encouraged about the Nationals' chances.

Since the All-Star break, Harper is batting .333 (12-for-36) with a .444 on-base percentage, .611 slugging percentage and 1.056 OPS. He has six extra-base hits. He has scored 10 runs and driven in 11 runs in 11 games. He also has stolen three bases.

"He's playing the way he's capable of playing," manager Davey Martinez said. "He's really doing well. And it really started in Miami: using the whole field, not trying to do too much."

Indeed, even though Harper's two recent homers came in the first week out of the All-Star break (one against the Braves, one against the Brewers) he has been a better all-around hitter in the week since.

That's in part because he has been hitting the ball to left and center fields with more regularity than he did for much of the summer to date.

Five of Harper's last eight hits (plus a sacrifice fly) have been hit to either left or center field. In not attempting to pull the ball as much, he's enjoying better results and making a bigger difference for his team.

"I think every day you want to go out there and get knocks and help your team win," he said. "I've been able to do that lately, so it's been a lot better than usual, I guess. Just trying to go out there and have some at-bats that I can get some knocks in, wait for some pitches over the plate, got a couple the last couple of days."