Phillies: A look back at Bryce Harper’s career until now

Bryce Harper’s journey to donning Phillies red pinstripes

As you may know, Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Bryce Harper is from Las Vegas, Nevada — a city that has produced other well-known MLB players such as Kris Bryant, Joey Gallo, and Tommy Pham.

After Harper’s sophomore year at Las Vegas High School, in 2009, he received his GED. Doing this made him eligible for the MLB draft the following year.

At 17 years old, Harper attended College of Southern Nevada and played for the Coyotes. His position was catcher, which actually allowed him to catch some of his older brother Bryan Harper’s games. As a Coyote, Bryce played in 66 games, where he hit 31 home runs, 98 RBI, and had a .443 batting average.

Following his amateur career, Harper was selected first overall by the Washington Nationals in the 2010 MLB draft.

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In 2011, Bryce played with the Hagerstown Suns, the Nationals’ class-A affiliate. He then went on to play with the Harrisburg Senators, their Double-A affiliate. However, Bryce injured his hamstring in August 2011 which did end his season that year. In 2012, he began the season with the Triple-A affiliate of the Nationals, the Syracuse Chiefs.

On April 27, 2012, Harper was promoted to the big leagues and started with the Nationals after Ryan Zimmerman landed on the disabled list.

Harper played with the Nationals from 2012-2018 when he became a free agent; he then signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. His 13-year, $330 million deal actually set a record for the largest MLB contract at the time.

His first year with the Phillies, Harper had 35 home runs, 114 RBI and a .260 batting average.

Over the course of Bryce’s career thus far, he has been a 6-time All-Star, National League Rookie of the Year, National League MVP, won a Silver Slugger award, led the National League in home runs, received the National League Hank Aaron award and even won a home run derby.

It seems the Phillies fans have embraced Bryce; he has also seemed to embrace them, his new home and new team, including a certain green mascot we all know and love.

Bryce and the Phillies’ mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, may have a little bromance going on. Bryce’s feelings for the hilarious mascot are pretty undeniable when he is seen wearing a jacket lined with photos.

The Phanatic returned the favor, wearing this equally great jacket lined with photos of Bryce.

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It’s safe to see that the Phillies have really got a great one in Bryce Harper. He wants the best for the team and he wants to win. I, for one, am excited to see where the rest of his career takes him!