How does Bryce Harper compare to other top NL MVP candidates?
Harper is undoubtedly the most valuable player on the Phillies, and the MVP award was originally created by the American League in 1922 to honor “the baseball player who is of the greatest all-around service to his club.”
Then there’s the fact that he leads not just the NL, but all of MLB in multiple offensive categories, and ranks highly in most others. We’ve already established that he generally outranks Freeman.
Harper is tied with Muncy for 9th in runs scored, tied for third in doubles, tied for sixth in home runs. Tatis leads the NL in home runs (36) and MLB in slugging (.638), but he’s also only appeared in 102 games due to injury.
While Harper’s RBI count is low (which also falls partially on his streaky teammates), he’s walked more than every other NL batter besides Juan Soto. He’s also struck out far less than Tatis (121), the frontrunner for the award, but has played in more games than the young Padres star. Before the break, Harper struck out 70 times in 68 games; he’s only struck out 35 times in 44 games since.