Bryce Harper loses out to Shohei Ohtani in more than one way this season

The 2024 Major League Baseball regular season has come to an end. The playoffs are underway, and the discussions for the league-wide awards are heating up.

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper is one of the faces of baseball and always has been. The two-time MVP was in the conversation for the third MVP of his career through the first half of the season, but that dream quickly died after a prolonged slump to start the second half of the season.

Bryce Harper loses out to Shohei Ohtani in more than one way this season

Harper was locked into a tight race with Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani for the National League MVP Award through the All-Star break. Harper was slashing .301/.403/.579 with a .982 OPS, 21 home runs and 61 RBI in the first half of the season. Ohtani was slashing .316/.400/.635 with a 1.035 OPS, 29 home runs and 69 RBI at the break. Both players were selected as All-Star Game starters at their respective positions.

Harper fell into the worst slump of his 13-year career going just 1-for-34 at the plate from July 24 through Aug. 2. The 31-year-old also went 30 games in a row without hitting a home run from Aug. 10 through Sept. 13. He finally broke the no-home run streak after sending two long balls over the fence in a 6-4 win against the New York Mets on Sept. 14.

Even with the slump, Harper slashed a respectable .266/.333/.460 with a .793 OPS and 21 doubles in the second half of the season. He put up good numbers for most players, but the dip in production was too costly to keep his name in the MVP conversation. Harper had +10000 odds of winning the NL MVP Award as of Sept. 16 on DraftKings while Ohtani was the betting favorite with -2500 odds.

Ohtani went on to hit 54 home runs and have 130 RBI this season. He became the first player in major league history to join the 50/50 club with his home runs and 59 stolen bases.

The MVP race isn’t the only thing Harper lost to Ohtani this season. Ohtani ended the 2024 season with the most popular MLB player jersey. Harper had the second most popular jersey ahead of New York Yankees superstar Aaron Judge. Phillies shortstop Trea Turner was No. 13 on the list for the most popular jersey this year.

Harper and Ohtani will be in the NL for a long time unless something crazy happens. Harper won’t be a free agent until 2032 and Ohtani won’t be a free agent until 2034. This likely won’t be the first time Harper and Ohtani will battle for the MVP Award or the most popular jersey.

Trending on That Ball's Outta Here