Phillies: Harper and Realmuto rank among baseballs best duos
The Phillies Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto have been scorching hot; where do they rank this season among the league’s best duos?
Two prized possessions of the 2018-2019 MLB offseason, trade candidate J.T. Realmuto and former MVP Bryce Harper, both landed in Philadelphia right before spring training in 2019.
Advance to August of 2020, a quarter of the way through the shortened 60-game season, and both Realmuto and Harper are off to red-hot starts.
It almost begs the question — are they the best duo in Major League Baseball right now?
Plenty of pitching duos also deserve their fair share of recognition, whether it is our very own Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler combo, to the Reds’ Trevor Bauer and Sonny Gray, or even the Indians’ Shane Bieber and Zach Plesac. In terms of debating about Harper and Realmuto, we’ll strictly stick to hitters to make an easier comparison.
The landscape of this season has been like no other. What has been a source of familiarity is big-name players producing in big ways. From here, we’ll count down the top 3 best hitting duos in Major League Baseball right now.
Of course, there are going to be some solid duos left off this list. To give some credit to guys who are also off to hot starts, here’s the honorable mention section.
The Oakland Atheltics’ corner infielders have been bashing home runs all season. Matt Chapman is tied for fourth in the majors with six home runs, and Matt Olson is tied for second with eight home runs. However, they are both still hitting below .240. A better average and other numbers would probably get them on this list.
For three potential MVP winners, like Fernando Tatis Jr., Mookie Betts, and Mike Trout, they lack a true running-mate. Two of them, Tatis and Trout, are tied for the league lead in home runs, while Betts is tied for second. But fellow stars like Anthony Rendon, Shohei Ohtani, Manny Machado, Cody Bellinger, and Tommy Pham have had slow starts to the 2020 season.
Reds’ OF Nicholas Castellanos and Jesse Winker have both been quietly remarkable. Winker leads the majors in OBP and OPS, with five home runs. Castellanos is second in the league in extra-base hits, including eight home runs.
Blue Jays’ young stars Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez have been nothing short of amazing in their first 16 games of the year too. Bichette is batting .356 with 21 hits and four stolen bases in 13 games, while Hernandez’s seven home runs ranks third in the Major Leagues.
Two underrated pairs include under the radar bats. Hanser Alberto leads all American League players in doubles and runs scored and is tied for the lead in hits. Teammate Anthony Santander, who boosts 20 RBIs himself, has been very impressive together for the Orioles.
The other duo would be Donovan Solano and Mike Yastremski of the San Francisco Giants. Solano is batting .433 with a 17-game hitting streak. Yastremski, the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl Yastremski, leads all players in Offensive WAR.
Now onto the real list.
*all statistics are entering Sunday, August 16th.*