Harper and Zimmerman look to get going at the plate

By Byron Kerr

Nationals

June 21, 2016, 8:10am

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Nobody ever really looks good against Clayton Kershaw.

Both Bryce Harper and Ryan Zimmerman struggled to get going against the three-time Cy Young Award winner in Monday's series opener between the Nationals and the Dodgers.

Harper went 1-for-4 but had three strikeouts against Kershaw. Mark Zuckerman got Harper's impressions of facing the Dodgers ace here.

Zimmerman went 0-for-4 with one strikeout in the 4-1 loss. And he has had trouble getting into a rhythm recently at the plate. In June, Zimmerman is just 8-for-50 (.160) with one double, two homers and eight RBIs in 13 games. He has struck out 17 times this month.

It's amazing to think that Harper and Zimmerman have combined for just three doubles and three homers total in the month of June.

Harper sometimes appears to drift off the plate when he swings, almost coming out of the batter's box. Zimmerman has had trouble catching up with fastballs at times and hasn't been able to make good contact like he has so many times in his career.

Tonight during our broadcast coverage, Ray Knight will break down Zimmerman's swing on the "Nats Xtra" pregame show on MASN2 at 9:30 p.m. and F.P. Santangelo will look into Harper's mechanics right at the top of the hour before first pitch. Santangelo said during last night's postgame show that he will try to track down hitting coach Rick Schu today for some insight on two of the most valuable hitters in the Nats lineup.

It is important to get these two hitters right. Maybe just getting away from Kershaw is a start.