PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper is set to take another swing at fatherhood — and he did it with a blue bat.
The Philadelphia Phillies slugger used a blue bat in his first plate appearance of Monday night’s game against San Francisco as part of a gender reveal for his fourth child.
A two-time NL MVP, Harper announced in a team meeting that his family was set to grow. He later asked All-Star shortstop Trea Turner for an assist with a most unusual reveal.
Harper had ordered two custom-made bats from Victus Sports — one of the bat manufacturers that produced the torpedo bat — in pink for a girl and blue for a boy.
“He’s a pretty creative guy,” Turner said. “He was nice enough to ask me to do it and I thought it was a nice moment for him and his family.”
Harper and his wife, Kayla, already have three young children together. The Harpers have a son named named Krew and two daughters, Brooklyn and Kamryn. Harper was not immediately available for comment after the Phillies lost 10-4.
“Any time you have a kid, I know it’s a fourth, but still, it’s pretty cool,” Turner said.
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Turner had the pink and blue bats in the dugout before the Phillies hit in the first inning. Turner teased Harper with the pink bat before pulling it back and trading it for blue.
“He thought he was having a girl, so I had to mess with him a little bit,” Turner said. “Sure enough, it was a boy. I ended up handing him the blue one and he was pretty happy.”
Harper struck out with the blue bat. He resumed swinging his regular bat for the rest of the game and finished 1 for 5.
“I think he would have been excited either way,” Turner said. “Now he’s got two of each. I feel like, kind of a complete family already, but any time you can add another person to the family, I think it’s special. I think he’s super excited.”
