Nah to a Ted Williams comp.
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2018/11/20/18104199/bryce-harper-free-agency-defense
“If Harper had lost his top gear, teams would be wary, but when he sprinted last season, he was as speedy as ever. It’s plausible, then, that with free agency approaching and the Nationals (who finished eight games out of a playoff spot) not firing on most cylinders, Harper went a little less than all-out in the outfield this year, gambling that a healthy season would make him more money than a bad defensive season would cost him.”
“Here’s the most convincing piece of corroborating evidence for the theory that Harper eased off the gas. In 764 opportunities in right field from 2016 to 2017, Harper dove 11 times and slid 17 times, per SIS. In 506 combined opportunities in right and center in 2018, Harper dove one time and slid four times. Among the 21 outfielders with at least 460 opportunities, Harper and Nick Castellanos were the only outfielders not to dive more than once. The other 19 averaged one dive per 60 opportunities.”
Right around what may have been Ted’s walk year in another era, he didn’t seem averse to dives:
“Pesky again described Williams's acumen in the advance training, for which Pesky personally did not qualify: "I heard Ted literally tore the sleeve target to shreds with his angle dives. He'd shoot from wingovers, zooms, and barrel rolls, and after a few passes the sleeve was ribbons. At any rate, I know he broke the all-time record for hits."
Doesn’t sound like he would tend to ease off the gas.
About 1958, Ted Williams won the batting championship again. He complained, to Shirley Povich I think, "Yeah, but I was hitting to left."
