Phillies home runs leader: Mike Schmidt (548)
Can Harper homer 46.6 times per year going forward? We’d love to see it.
Schmidt was a home-run king in his era, leading MLB in the category six times, and the NL twice. He had three 40+ and thirteen 31+ homer seasons.
Harper’s career-high thus far was 42 home runs back in his first MVP season with the Nationals in 2015, and he hasn’t surpassed 35 HR since. Not that 35 homers is bad, and we’re certainly not complaining, but it’s not going to be enough to become the Phillies’ new home-run king.
Phillies RBI leader: Mike Schmidt (1,595)
Harper isn’t exactly an RBI superstar, but that’s not entirely his fault. After all, if his teammates don’t get on base, there’s no one for him to drive in. Then again, he did start the 2021 season with 14 consecutive solo home runs, so maybe it’s a dual-sided issue.
So far, Harper has driven in 231 runs, meaning he needs to drive in 1,365 more to set a new franchise record. 136.5 RBI per season is a lofty goal; no MLB player drove in more than 121 runs last season. It’s highly doubtful, almost impossible, that Harper – or anyone else, for that matter – breaks Schmidt’s record.
Then again, Schmidt amassed these numbers over 18 years with the Phillies. If Harper had 15 more years, he’d need to drive in 91 runs per season, which is still lofty, but far more realistic.