Phillies’ Bryce Harper Wins Second NL MVP Award

Bryce Harper only knew how to win the hearts of the locals when he joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 2019. He signed a contract with no opt-out clause, demonstrating allegiance to a city that demands it. He adopted the Eagles as his favorite team, eliminating the obnoxious Dallas Cowboys. He’s formed a friendship with the town’s most beloved creature, Phillie Phanatic, regularly paying homage to the mascot with headbands, bras, and even a green sports jacket. tree.

“It’s great to play baseball every day in this great city,” Harper said on Thursday night, later adding, “Being around the fans we have, all they want you to be. To do is to work hard and try to win and try to be a great player every night. ”

Indeed, the easiest way to win any fan’s heart is to be the best player in the league. The baseball writers corroborated that for Harper on Thursday, naming him the winner of the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award for the second time in his career and his first as Phillie.

Harper, a man in power, received 17 out of 30 votes in first place, ahead of Juan Soto of the Washington Nationals, who has six, and Fernando Tatis of the San Diego Padres, who has two. Brandon Crawford of the San Francisco Giants had four votes in first place but placed fourth in total score.

As well as Harper played, the Phillies finished 82-80 and missed the knockout stages to extend their drought to 10 seasons. MVP of the American League, Shohei Ohtani of Angels of Los Angeles, also played for a team that missed out after the season. It’s quite common for one of the MVPs to miss the playoffs, but this is the first year without a strike since 1987 that neither of them have done so.

The Phillies, who finished six and a half games behind Atlanta in the NL East, wouldn’t be competitive at all without Harper. He played every game in the second half, returning from a game against the Cardinals’ Genesis Cabrera in St.

“Everybody goes through ups and downs in a season; Harper said. “I think for me, once I got hit in the face, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m great, I’m fine, I pressed my face, I’m okay to turn around,’ don’t know. that maybe it’s a bit too early. I had to rest and understand that my wrists still hurt, my face and my mental state are probably not at their greatest.”

Harper was overtaken for a spot on the NL All-Star team, but he rested with his family and then punished opponents after the break with 1,188 OPS – compared with 0.684 for all the other Phillies. Overall, Harper leads in key points in OPS (1,044) and doubles (42) while beating .309 with 35 home players and 13 stolen bases.

He is the sixth Phillies player to win an MVP, after Chuck Klein, Jim Konstanty, Mike Schmidt, Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins. With a decade left on a 13-year, $330 million deal, Harper, who turned 29 last month, has time to join Schmidt in becoming the only player to win more than once for the Phillies. Schmidt – who won in 1980, 1981 and 1986 – announced the award for Harper on the MLB Network.

This was the best of Harper’s three seasons in Philadelphia, but it was all very strong. Since joining the Phillies, he’s one of three players – along with Soto and Atlanta’s Freddie Freeman – to have both a base percentage of .400 and a slip of .500 playing at least 300 games.

However, while Soto and Freeman helped their team win the title in that timeframe, the Phillies squandered much of Harper’s performance. Hampered by a thin farm system, unstable defenses and a feeble barn, the Phillies are 191-193 since signing him. But Harper is optimistic.

“There may be teammates that I have, knowing I will be with Rhys Hoskins for a long time, knowing I will be with Zack Wheeler, JT Realmuto for a long time,” Harpers said. “I think we thrive on each other.”

This week has brought news that another star is sure to stay in the red headbands for a while. On Tuesday, the Phillies settled a lawsuit with the designer of Phanatic, allowing the team to bring back the mascots in his original glory: feathers, cotton, and a friend of the MVP