It isn't a surprise to anyone that the battle for MVP in the National League is between Philadelphia Phillies' star Bryce Harper and Washington Nationals' youngster Juan Soto. Though it is a tight battle, there seems to be a truly mind-numbing statistic that puts Harper over Soto, per Jayson Stark of the Athletic.

During the second half of the 2021 season, the Phillies' outfielder posted an OPS of 1.188, while the rest of his teammates had an average of .684. This meant that Harper's on base plus slugging, or the calculated sum of his on-base and slugging percentage, was 500 points over everyone around him. Additionally, the 29 year old helped keep a weaker Phillies team in contention for the playoffs until just the last week of the season.

Moreover, the outfielder smashed 35 home runs, brought in 84 RBIs, and also had a career-high 42 doubles hit. He was the reason why Philadelphia maintained relevancy, and he was mainly doing it by himself.

While Soto had a great year, the Nationals did not. They were at the bottom of their division, behind by 23.5 games. The 23 year old hit 29 home runs, had 95 RBIs, and also garnered an OBP of .465. Yet while he performed well individually, Washington did not.

Harper's dominance as an individual, along with his value in helping a weaker team make a playoff push, should be a huge factor in why he should win the NL MVP this season.