Bryce Harper's first and only Home Run Derby appearance came in 2013 when he made it to the finals of the competition, but he won't be following up that performance anytime soon.
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After passing on an appearance in the long-ball contest at Great American Ball Park Monday in Cincinnati, Harper revealed that he won't be a participant again until his Washington Nationals host the event in 2018 in D.C.
Harper is looking to take a page out of the book of Reds third baseman Todd Frazier, who won the competition in front of his home fans on Monday.
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"Next two years, no," Harper told reporters about the Home Run Derby, according to ESPN. "Probably at home. I'd like to do it in D.C."
Harper, one of the game's bright young stars, started the All-Star Game for the National League in right field Tuesday, but his squad fell to the American League, 6-3, relinquishing home-field advantage in the World Series in the process.
Harper sat out of the contest this year, partly because his father, Ron, injured his shoulder in a snowboarding accident and couldn't pitch to him like he did in 2013.
Despite being a spectator, Harper enjoyed the show.
"I had a blast," Harper said. "To be able to watch [Los Angeles Dodgers rookie] Joc [Pederson] and Frazier going at it that last round. After Joc hit [14], you're thinking to yourself, 'Man, is Frazier going to come back and do this?' The crowd got behind him, and he had a lot of fun doing it.
He continued: "And also, [having] the hometown guy win in front of his crowd is something that's pretty impressive and a lot of fun to watch. So I enjoyed it."
Harper, 22, finished second in his prior Home Run Derby outing in 2013 at Citi Field, home of the New York Mets. He blasted 24 homers in total that evening, but fell to Yoenis Cespedes, 9-8, in the finals.
The young slugger said he likely won't participate in the event the next two years when it travels to Petco Park in San Diego and Marlins Park in Miami.
"Next two years I probably wouldn't do it, San Diego and Miami," Harper said. "[Giancarlo] Stanton would probably win in Miami anyways."
Harper is second in the majors this season with 26 round-trippers, trailing Stanton (27) by one. He also leads the MLB at the end of the first half in on-base percentage (.464), slugging percentage (.704) and OPS (1.168).
With the 2018 Derby far out of sight, Harper will continue to try and stay in the hunt in the NL MVP race and keep the Nationals headed toward October baseball.
Washington (48-39) closed out the first half in first place in the NL East, two games up on the second-place Mets (47-42) as it hunts its third division crown in four years.
The Nationals open up the second half on Friday when they host the Los Angeles Dodgers at Nationals Park, site of the 2018 Home Run Derby.
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