Bryce Harper’s Ultimate Warrior look is back

It's baaaaack. Though Bryce Harper previously made a promise to ditch his Ultimate Warrior eye black behind in his amateur days, the 19-year-old phenom took his first at-bat on Monday while looking more suited for a pay-per-view than a batter's box.

The re-emergence of Harper's junior college look caused a minor uproar on Twitter, but it's unclear if the Washington Nationals rookie intentionally made it that way for Game 2 of the NLDS in St. Louis. He's worn liberally applied bars of eye black before this season and the above look almost appears as if he splashed some water on his face and then rubbed it without thinking.

Of course, there's also the chance Harper is protesting Major League Baseball's decision to schedule the first two games in St. Louis at a time when the sun and shadows wreak the most havoc at Busch Stadium. Or maybe he really is just planning on clotheslining Fredbird later.

Whatever the case, the eye black does not appear to be helping Harper improve any. He's currently 0 for 2 with two strikeouts in Game 2 after going 0 for 5 with two strikeouts in Sunday's paint-free Game 1.

Update: The eye black was gone by his third at-bat in the fifth inning, but the result was the same as Harper struck out for the third time of the day. He struck out again later, too, earning him the golden sombrero as the series shifted to Washington.

Big BLS H/N: Nats Enquirer

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