Philadelphia Phillies' Slugger Finds Power Hitting

The power swing has returned for the Philadelphia Phillies' slugger down the back stretch of the season.

It has been an interesting season for Bryce Harper. He had to miss time at the beginning of the year as he recovered from offseason elbow surgery that hasn't allowed him to play in his normal right field position. When he came back, he was limited to the designated hitter role before learning how to play first base.

Harper made the adjustment in the field because the Philadelphia Phillies were struggling defensively in the outfield with Kyle Schwarber playing left field everyday instead being in his designated hitter spot.

He's also had to adjust to a different approach at the plate than what he has become accustomed to over the years that has earned him two MVP awards.

The power was substantially down as he continued to play through the recovery of his surgically repaired elbow. Harper had the longest home run drought of his career in the midst of the summer. He didn't hit a single home run in the month of June and entered August with only five home runs on the year, something very unusual for the Phillies' slugger.

That has completely changed in recent weeks. The power is back in his bat at the perfect time.

In the last seven games, Harper is hitting .462/.588/1.077 with five home runs and nine RBI. He's hit seven homers in August taking his season total up to 12.

The superstar spoke with Matt Gelb of The Athletic about his hitting saying, "Just getting pitches on the plate to swing at and I’m not missing them. Trying to not chase the pitches out of the zone. Take chances when I can. Just continue to try to square up baseballs. Like I said about a month ago, I’m not worried about the homers or anything like that. Just trying to square up baseballs as much as possible."

With the power back in Harper's bat, Philadelphia is poised to make another deep run in the playoffs.