Advertisement

Matt Williams expresses frustration after Bryce Harper's third ejection

Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper plays baseball with a passion that constantly drives him to be the best player on the field. But there's also a growing concern that Harper's passion too often manifests itself into rage, which has proven detrimental to the Washington Nationals cause.

The latest example came during the 11th inning of Washington's 2-1 loss to the New York Mets on Friday night. With the score then tied at 1, Harper was called out on strikes against New York reliever Hansel Robles. After the out was registered, Harper immediately confronted home-plate umpire Jerry Meals, giving him an earful and briefly getting in his face.

And just that quickly, Harper was ejected for the third time this season for arguing balls and strikes .

[Yahoo Sports Fantasy Football: Sign up and join a league today!]

Granted, Harper seemed to have a legitimate beef about Meals' called third strike. It's also believed he wasn't thrilled with an earlier pitch in the at-bat.

"I was sticking up for my team and myself at the same time," Harper explained after the game. "He was bad all night."

(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

That's all well and good, but the bottom line is the Nationals needed him to stay in that game. They needed their best player on the field, especially when playing a close game against the team closest to them in the NL East standings, but Harper was unable to control the rage.

According to MASN Sports' Chris Johnson, that's a major concern for Nationals manager Matt Williams. While there were several things to be frustrated about after such a roller coaster game, Williams' focus was on the need for Harper to keep his emotions in check and stay on the field.

"He needs to stay in the baseball game," Williams reportedly repeated three times. 

"I want him to stay in every game," Williams added. "We've talked about it. We'll talk about it again."

So far, the talks haven't been sinking in. All three of Harper's ejections this season have come under similar circumstances. The first, as Johnson notes, came on a check swing argument with the Nationals and Diamondbacks tied 5-5 late in a game on May 13. That was perhaps the most explosive of his outbursts, and the timing again wasn't great for Washington.

[Every deal that happened on MLB trade-deadline day.]

Harper's second ejection came just eight days later in a game against the New York Yankees. Harper was excused in the third inning by home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson after the two engaged in a bizarre exchange. In all honesty, that wasn't so much Harper's temper as it was Hudson having thin skin. But Harper must also learn not to tempt fate, because sometimes an umpire doesn't need a reason as much as he needs a reaction.

The latter is an issue the league and the umpires need to work on. As for the Nationals, they just need to know their best player and offensive centerpiece will be there when they need him most. That sometimes, he'll be willing to swallow his pride and accept defeat in one battle to win a bigger battle later on.

That mindset will probably come with maturity, but the Nationals could really use it right now.

More MLB coverage from Yahoo Sports:

- - - - - - -

Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!