The Philadelphia Phillies began a three game weekend series against the first place Washington Nationals and their reigning NL MVP tonight.
Each series, I highlight an opposing player for fans to watch as that Phillies’ series unfolds. Once again in the last series, my player to watch was not a major contributor to his team while playing our beloved Philadelphia Phillies. However, can it really be considered Matt Kemp‘s fault? The Phillies starters were nothing short of impeccable against the entire San Diego Padres lineup.
Kemp played the first three games of the four-game set. He was 2-12 with no walks and a strikeout. The Phillies shifted him, as I mentioned they may do in my writeup. Their pitching perfectly matched the shifts for the most part, outside of a Charlie Morton sinker that was left a bit too far out over the plate.
For me, Kemp was a pretty easy sell as the Padres player to watch, because the rest of their offense is pretty terrible. With this weekend’s choice, the answer is simple again, but not because the Washington Nationals have a bad offense. The choice was easy because Bryce Harper is that much better than most every one else in baseball.
What is there to say about the 23-year old right fielder that has not already been said? Most Phillies fans will tell you how much they despise the star. I am not one of those people. For many years, Phils opposition fans said that they hated Chase Utley, but they didn’t really. They wished their team had Utley playing for them. I would do just about anything to have Harper play right field for the Phillies, and I mean that.
In just three full seasons of baseball, Harper has made the NL All-Star team each and every year. He won the National League Rookie of the Year award, and took home last season’s league Most Valuable Player award, Silver Slugger award, NL Hank Aaron award.
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In 2015, Harper shared the NL home run lead with Rockies’ 3rd baseman Nolan Arenado, with each blasting 42 long balls . Harper was atop all of baseball in position player WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) with a ridiculous 9.9 and 1.109 respectively.
All that, and he also finished among the top ten in the game in the categories of runs, walks, extra base hits, and total bases. So much for the kid ending up being a bust, right? His energy and hustle alone might make him an absolute star, but added to the natural skills, it all makes for a dominant, generational talent.
As this season has begun, Harper has found himself in the mix of some controversy. The left-handed slugger is at the forefront of a movement to “Make Baseball Fun Again“, as was displayed on a hat that he recently wore. Many fans agree and, even MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has been said to agree with Harper.
Thus far on the 2016 season, Harper has produced three homers and nine RBI over his first eight games, and has even been running, swiping three bags to this point. If the Phillies are going to have any chance at taking this series from the first place (7-1) Nationals, they are going to have to find a way to slow down their young MVP.
As the opener of the series has been unfolding, that task is proving elusive. Harper is 3-4, and has blasted his fourth home run, helping the Nationals to a 9-0 blowout lead as the game enters the 8th inning. Not a good start at all for the Fightin’ Phils.
Phillies starting pitchers Morton and Aaron Nola will have to perform at a much higher level than Jeremy Hellickson did tonight. The Phils’ starter allowed five 1st inning runs to put the club into an early hole. Harper and the Nats are perhaps the best team that the Phillies have played thus far, and it is showing in this opener.