Is pitching around Bryce Harper ‘scared baseball’ or good strategy?

12:20 PM ET

CHICAGO — Was Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon “scared” to pitch to Bryce Harper as Washington Nationals pitcher Tanner Roark intimated after the National League MVP walked a record six times Sunday — three intentional — and 13 times for the four-game series just completed?

Maddon might not use the same word but he explained himself in simple terms after the Cubs’ four-game sweep.

“Why tempt fate like that?,” Maddon said. “If the other guy gets you that’s fine. I have no problem with that whatsoever … I know he’s [Harper] not as hot as he can be coming into this series but you don’t want to get him hot.”

One man’s “scared” move is another man’s strategy. That’s the beauty of baseball. A Cubs fan might look at this way: Maddon was pretty “brave” in pitching to Ryan Zimmerman with the bases loaded so many times. We can go around and around on this topic, but Maddon reminded everyone why baseball is such a unique sport. Pitchers hitting, sluggers sacrifice bunting and, yes, MVPs getting pitched around. We saw it all Sunday and it worked in the Cubs’ favor. Why not take advantage of all the options presented to you?

The Cubs issued 13 walks to Bryce Harper in the just-completed four-game series …

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