Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper is a certified spring training star.
His performance this spring has been nothing short of amazing: he is 8-for-24, hitting .333 with a .385 OBP and a 1.218 OPS.
He has seven runs scored, seven RBI, and four home runs, including this one, fresh from the oven:
Dingers off Bryce Harper’s bat just sound different 🔈🔉🔊 pic.twitter.com/zo7TbWhiHE
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 31, 2022
Harper hasn’t had a bad spring training performance since 2014, when he had a .731 OPS.
After that year, the lowest OPS he has posted has been .833 in 2018, and he has surpassed 1.000 in each of the last four campaigns, if we include the ongoing edition.
Overall, Harper has 448 spring training plate appearances over his career, and has slashed. 328/.431/.632 with a 1.063 OPS, 34 home runs, and 99 RBI.
Of course, lots of hitters had blistering spring trainings, only to disappear when the games count.
Harper Is Both A Spring Training And Regular Season Star
We know that Harper, a two-time MVP award winner in the National League, is far from that category.
He seems to be firing on all cylinders at the moment, ready to take his Phillies into the promised land: the playoffs.
For that, the Phillies brought in some outside help, in the form of sluggers Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos.
Between those three, it’s not hard to envision more than 100 home runs and 300 RBI.
Harper will try to top his 2021 performance: a .309/.429/.615 line with 35 home runs in 141 games.
He appears to be on the right path, as his swing is already in midseason form.
The Phillies will have a tough time making it into October, but they have the tools to at least make a concerted effort.
Harper will lead the way, however, and the team will likely go as far as he takes them.
