There's something about October in the past two years that flips a switch within Bryce Harper and the entire Philadelphia Phillies team. Entering the playoffs as a Wild Card team for the second consecutive season, the Phillies made quick work of the Miami Marlins and slayed the Atlanta Braves yet again, setting themselves up for a clash against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS. Harper, unlocking his playoff mode, was a catalyst of the Phillies' offense in their 5-3 win over the Diamondbacks in Game 1, with the first baseman going 2-3 with a home run, two runs batted in, and one walk.

Hitting home runs is never a bad thing in baseball, but Harper has taken the long ball and weaponized it to a winning degree only a few people have in MLB history; following their series-opening victory, the Phillies have now won 10 straight games in which Harper has hit a home run, which is tied for the longest streak of all-time, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com.

To put in perspective just how unique this achievement is, only two other players have accomplished the exact same feat the Phillies star did, with Carlos Correa's (2017-2020) and Bernie Williams' (1996-2000) teams winning 10 straight games as well in which they homered.

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While there's nothing that concretely links Bryce Harper going deep to an automatic victory for the Phillies, being in the company he is can only bode well for their chances of winning a World Series crown. Correa notably won a World Series with the much-maligned 2017 Houston Astros, while Williams is a four-time champion, all of which came during the span in which the New York Yankees won all games in which he homered.

What makes this amount to something more than just grasping at straws is that the Phillies aren't exactly relying on Harper alone to generate offense, similar to the Astros and Yankees with Carlos Correa and Bernie Williams, respectively. The Astros and Yankees had stacked batting orders, and the Phillies, given the team's postseason hot streak at the plate, aren't much different.

It may be early days for the Phillies in the NLCS, but there sure are plenty of reasons to be optimistic — and this is one of them.