Report leaves Bryce Harper sounding doubtful for Home Run Derby

Bryce Harper left Cincinnati without a homer in the Reds' three-game sweep. It may wind up being a theme.

Harper's travel arrangements have most likely already been booked to return to Great American Ball Park in mid-July for the 86th Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The 22-year-old was announced last week as the frontrunner in the early release of the National League's fan vote. It was no surprise since Harper has been captivating audiences and terrorizing pitchers through the season's first two months. He leads the NL in homers with 18 and runs scored with 42, is second in RBIs with 43 and fourth in batting average at .325.

But it's been Harper's destruction of the baseball that's made almost every at-bat must-see TV. After his three-game, six-homer binge in early May, which was capped off by a dramatic ninth-inning walk-off bomb at Nationals Park, Harper truly re-introduced himself to baseball's elite. The homers came in bunches and in all varieties - tape-measure moonshots to muscled line drives. Even when Harper hated his swing, like last week at Wrigley Field, the ball somehow found the cheap seats.

Naturally, the hype machine over the next few weeks would be revving up for Harper's artillery display in the Home Run Derby preceding the All-Star Game. But according to the Cincinnati Enquirer's C. Trent Rosecrans, Harper is leaning toward not participating.

"We'll see if I end up doing it or not," Harper told the Enquirer. "As of right now, I don't know if I'll end up doing it."

Harper's reason for potentially missing the showcase: His father and favorite BP pitcher, Ron Harper, is sidelined after undergoing recent rotator cuff surgery following a snowboarding accident.

"I probably won't be able to do it this year, because he's my guy," Harper said of his dad, according to the Enquirer.

Ron Harper pitched to his son in the 2013 longball contest, when Harper made it the finals before losing out to Yoenis Cespedes at Citi Field.

Bryce Harper apparently hasn't completely ruled out participating in the spectacle, but he'd need to find a new pitcher. Aside from having to hear ESPN's Chris Berman yell "Back, back, back," 30 more times, I'm sure most of the baseball world would love to see the Nationals slugger square off against the likes of the Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton or the Angels' Mike Trout in a gun show.

"We'll see if I end up doing it or not," Harper told the Enquirer. "As of right now, I don't know if I'll end up doing it."

Later today, Harper is expected to be announced as the NL's Player of the Month after batting .360 with 13 homers, 28 RBIs and 24 runs scored in May.