In a bizarre at-bat against the Brewers, Bryce Harper didn't even consider swinging

PHILADELPHIA – Bryce Harper probably hasn’t been labeled an automatic out often in his life, if ever, but he came pretty close to being just that against Milwaukee Brewers reliever Hoby Milner on Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park.

In a peculiar at-bat that had Milner and the Brewers unsure of what exactly had happened, Harper took six pitches without any apparent intention to swing en route to a strikeout against Milner in the bottom of the sixth.

Milner, who threw a scoreless inning in the Brewers’ 5-3 win, had never seen anything quite like it.

“Not for that many pitches, no,” Milner said. “For a couple pitches, yeah. I was like, ‘Oh, OK, maybe this is going to be the pitch that he decides to ambush.’ It just never came.”

Harper, who was leading off the inning, got in his stance but then dropped his hands to a resting, non-competitive position near his belt as Milner wound up for the first pitch. Then he did it again on the second pitch, an 0-1 slider in the dirt. Then again on a 1-1 slider off the plate.

“After the first couple of pitches, it was apparent he was taking. I guess the scouting report he was going with was I was going to throw four balls before three strikes approach. That’s really all I can say. That’s what it looked like. So I just filled it up after that. I just tried to throw fastballs down the middle after that.”

Harper got ahead 3-1 when a fastball that clipped the bottom of the zone was called a ball, but he still didn’t have any intention of pulling the trigger from there, even as Milner piped a 3-1 sinker right down Broad Street.

On the 3-2 pitch, Harper finally loaded his hands for the first time all at-bat but made no motion to swing at yet another fastball smack dab over the middle.

Brewers catcher William Contreras surmised that perhaps Harper, who had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in the offseason, was doing some damage control and limiting the rigor on his elbow.

“I was definitely a little confused,” catcher William Contreras said. “I think there might have been something with his elbow. Coming off Tommy John, he knows he’s going to have some hard swings against someone like Milner but whatever it was, we know he’s a good hitter, so being able to get a free out like that, we’ll take it.”

Whatever the reason was for Harper, it was likely the last time Milner will throw a bunch of fastballs right down the middle on purpose to a major-league hitter.

“Weird scenario,” Milner summarized. “First time I’ve ever seen that. He just stuck to a game plan credit to him for sticking to it, I guess.”

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bryce Harper doesn't appear to try to swing against Hoby Milner