FanPost

Bryce Harper Is Trapped




Bryce Harper has found his medium.

You know what he's doing this year? 16 home runs, 12 stolen bases, 21 doubles, a .297/.406/.538 slash line, and an impressive 158 OPS+, the 7th highest in baseball and only behind Muncy, Tatis Jr., Ohtani, Olson, Guerrero Jr., and Soto.

Higher than JD Martinez and Rafael Devers.

Many would say that Bryce is overrated, and eve if it's too early to tell if that 13 year contract was worth it, he's one of the stars in the game right now. He's almost the opposite as he was from 2014. From overhyped "star" who puts up an .800 OPS to underhyped "regular and extremely overrated player" who's putting up elite stats without anything but an eye roll.

But, to the blind eye, there's a catch.

Only 37 RBI.

Some fools may say: "Oh, he's overrated! 37 RBI is trash! The CATCHER has more RBIs than him!"

Slow down, buddy.

He bats third, behind Jean Segura and JT Realmuto, who are nice players, but when you consider the amount of opportunities you get when the next best player in OPS has an .857 with 7 at-bats, you don't get many chances to get run support to drive home. Also the reason Aaron Nola has a 4.37 ERA. And even though the Phillies have an above average runs per game, the 7-9 spots, big for runs at the top of the order, is horrid, with Bohm and Herrera, the two regulars, combining for a .296 on-base percentage. Oh boy.

The Phillies are good, just inconsistent. And for that, Bryce Harper is still underappreciated.

Bryce, you should've signed with the Giants. Fight me in the comments.

Bell Ringer's Pick of the Day: Phillies 5, Pirates 3

Bell Ringer's Line (not the Vegas Line, but my line using a calculated formula): Phillies -182, Pirates +223.

Bell Ringer's Lucky Prediction: Andrew McCutchen will have more than 3 total bases.