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.*
The Rockies dynamic duo is keeping them high in the NL West standings
Charlie Blackmon and Trevor Story of the Colorado Rockies come in at number three for baseball’s best hitting duos. Blackmon and Story rank third and eighth respectfully in Offensive WAR in 2020.
Through 20 games, Blackmon leads all players in hits (35) and average (.438). If he kept this up at a 162 game pace, he would finish right around 283 hits. Story, on the other hand, is tied for seventh in the big leagues in hits, along with six home runs, 12 RBIs, and four stolen bases.
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So far in 2020, Story is third in the league with eight multi-hit games, while Blackmon leads all players with 12. Together, they’ve scored just about 35% of the Rockies total runs and are responsible for 56 percent of the Rockies total runs this season. Batting second and third in the lineup, both Blackmon and Story are the two guys that provide major offense in Colorado.
Thanks to these two powerful hitters, the Rockies are sitting at 12-8 which is good for the 3rd best record in the National League. In terms of team ranks, the Rockies are top-5 in OBP, Hits, Runs, RBIs, SLG%, and first in Batting Average.
Even if the list were trios, the Rockies will still land on the list thanks to Nolan Arenado. However, he is not off to as strong of a start as Blackmon and Story.
The middle of the Phillies lineup is as strong as any other in baseball.
Simply put, Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto have carried the Phillies offense so far this season. As much as I want to put them first, they’re not. Second is still really good though.
Bryce Harper is second in baseball in OBP and OPS, and batting .346. Among Phillies starters, Harper is first in Runs, Hits, Stolen Bases, Batting Average, OBP, and OPS. He falls second in Home Runs, RBIs, and SLG% to none other than J.T. Realmuto.
Harper’s walk-off against the Mets was a huge win for the Phillies that rolled into a series win. He has the most walk-off hits since entering the league with 12. Each of them are highlighted here by Matt Rappa.
Realmuto has been blazing hot all season himself. It almost seems like every at-bat is a 100mph missile into the stands. His eight Home Runs and 20 RBIs are both tied for second best in baseball. In 2019, it took Realmuto 49 games to reach eight Home Runs.
At his position, Realmuto leads in Runs, Home Runs, RBIs, SLG%, and OPS. He has been unreal under pressure, with 5 go-ahead hits in 2020, most of them being Home Runs.
Although the team has not been as successful, Harper and Realmuto have been the only consistent threats all year for the Phillies. If they keep this up, and other bats start hitting, the lineup will be a major problem for opposing pitchers.
The Yankees big bats are the best duo in baseball
Aaron Judge and DJ LeMahieu are both huge bats in an already strong Yankee lineup. It would be wrong to put any other duo on top of this list.
For starters, Judge is tied for the league lead in Home Runs with 9, while leading all players in SLG% and OPS. His AB/HR ratio is also tops in the majors. His 20 RBIs are second best in baseball — 16 of them coming over a seven game span from July 29th to August 5th that also included 7 long balls. Clearly, Judge rips baseballs all over the field.
Philadelphia Phillies
LeMahieu, an underrated free-agent addition for New York prior to last season, leads all American League players in Hits, Batting Average, and OBP. LeMahieu also ranks sixth in offensive WAR, and fifth in Runs scored across the Major Leagues. He is the catalyst that propels the Bronx Bombers offense.
Mostly batting first and second for the Yankees in 2020, Judge has driven in LeMahieu five times, accounting for 25% of his RBIs.
Together, they’re two of the top three Yankees in WAR (the other being Gerrit Cole). They’ve been driving the Yankees’ toward the second best record in the American League, but the number one offense in terms of runs scored.
Unfortunately for the Yankees, MVP candidate Aaron Judge was just placed on the 10-day IL yesterday. That means both former-MVPs, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge, are on the IL together. But, the Yankees do have plenty of bats to fill their voids.