Bryce Harper continues to be the man for the Philadelphia Phillies. On Tuesday, Harper had himself quite a night in a 9-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds.
In four at-bats on the night, Harper went yard three times, driving in six runs on his own with an epic superstar performance. This is only the second time in Harper's career where he hit three long balls in a single game, with the other one coming way back in 2015 when he was in the midst of the best season of his career with the Washington Nationals.
In fact, Harper began the season going 0-for-11, so for him to break out of this slump and get the first three hits of his 2024 season via the long ball is an impressive feat on its own.
But beyond his amazing mini-slump-busting performance, the Phillies' first baseman also made history by being the first player in the Modern Era of baseball (1901 onwards) to “record his 1,000th career run while having at least three HR in the same game,” according to OptaSTATS.
This statistic appears to be rather arbitrary, but it goes to show how great of a night Bryce Harper had. Not only did the Phillies win comfortably and not only did he get his first three hits of the season, he also continues to boost his career totals that will help him in his Hall of Fame candidacy when the time comes.
Bryce Harper, take a bow
On the night, the Phillies would have had difficulties scoring had Bryce Harper not been able to get on the board for 2024. Harper drove in six of the Phillies' nine runs. He even scored four on one swing when he hit a grand slam off Brent Suter with one out in the seventh inning.
Harper had his fair share of struggles to begin the year, although 13 plate appearances isn't exactly a good sample size. He also came up against tough pitchers such as Spencer Strider, and the Reds also trotted out Andrew Abbott, a lefty.
Harper is noticeably worse against same-sided pitching, so one would understand why it took him four games to get his first base hit of the season.
Of all the Phillies' hitters, Bryce Harper will be the least of their concern. Harper has always found a way to produce in a Phillies uniform, and he turns up his game under the brightest of lights. This three-home-run showing against the Reds is a reminder of what the 31-year-old is capable of, and why the Phillies remain such a dangerous team.
Is Harper's Phillies contract actually aging well?
The Phillies' decision to give Bryce Harper a 13-year, $330 million contract in 2019 raised some eyebrows; he hasn't been able to replicate his stellar 2015 MVP campaign, and his peripherals during his contract season weren't the best, even raising some signals of a potentially steep decline in the coming years.
But Harper has been Mr. Philly for the past few years, embracing the Phillies fanbase with open arms while being the face of the franchise during what has been a wildly successful past two seasons that have ended in heartbreaking playoff defeats.
One would think that Father Time will be coming for Harper soon; he has already moved to first base on a full-time basis, a telltale sign of athletic decline, and he didn't start off 2024 on the best of notes, especially after coming off an injury during Spring Training. But his three-home-run night against the Reds shows that the 31-year-old slugger is still as productive as he can be.
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