Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper and the brightest stars in baseball today converged at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas Tuesday night for the 2024 edition of the MLB All-Star Game. Harper and the National League fell prey to the American League, 5-3, but everyone can still appreciate the event.
For Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani, part of the fun was being around greatness, and he did not hide his thoughts on the player that impressed him the most during the All-Star Game.
“Bryce Harper stood out to me,” Ohtani said of the Phillies star first baseman through an interpreter following the contest (h/t Jeff Skversky).
Ohtani is too humble to say it, but he was, statistically speaking, the best hitter for the National League in the All-Star Game. He put the NL on the board first with a three-run home run in the third inning that drove Ketel Marte of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Jurickson Profar of the San Diego Padres home in the third inning. That was pretty much it for the NL, as they were not able to add any more to their offensive production the rest of the way.
Ohtani went 1-for-2 with three RBIs and a run plus a walk. And with his home run against the American League, Ohtani just became the first player ever in the history of the big leagues to have a pitching win and a home run in an All-Star Game career (h/t OptaSTATS).
“Shohei Ohtani is the only player in MLB history to earn a win on the mound and hit a home run at the plate in his All-Star Game career.”
That's not all. Here's more from, OptaSTATS:
The NL All-Stars tonight:
Shohei Ohtani: 3 RBI, 1 BB
Everyone else: 0 RBI, 0 BB
He's the only player in MLB history to have all of his team's RBI and all of his team's walks in an All-Star Game.
As for Harper, he went 1-for-3 with zero walks and no strikeouts.
Although Harper was not able to do much damage at the plate, there is no denying that he is having a fantastic season again in Phillies uniform. Through 81 games in the first half of the 2024 MLB regular season, the two-time National League Most Valuable Player put together a .301/.403/.579 batting line to go with 21 home runs, 53 walks, and 61 RBIs. He also owns a staggering 174 OPS+.
As for Ohtani, he slashed .316/.400/.635 with 29 home runs and 69 RBIs to go with 51 walks and 23 stolen bases. That's not to mention his dizzyingly high 189 OPS+.
Bryce Harper, National League fall to American League in 94th MLB All-Star Game
Pittsburgh Pirates rookie Paul Skenes started on the mound for the National League and allowed just a walk before Max Fried of the Atlanta Braves pitched a scoreless second inning. Ohtani then ended the scoreless drought in the contest with his aforementioned home run in the third inning off of Logan Webb of the San Francisco Giants.
Juan Soto of the New York Yankees, however, cut the American League deficit to just one when he had a two-run double in the bottom of the third frame. David Fry of the Cleveland Guardians tied the game at 3-3 with an RBI single that pushed Soto to home plate before the end of the inning.
Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox hit the eventual game-winning home rin in the fifth inning with a blast that also sent Anthony Santander of the Baltimore Orioles home.
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