Bryce Harper joins Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera and Al Oliver in an elite 4-man club with 4th Silver Slugger award
Bryce Harper's 13th season in MLB earned him his fourth Silver Slugger Award. Interestingly, it was his first at first base position after he transitioned from outfield to first base. He previously won two Silver Sluggers in 2015 and 2021 from the outfield, one as DH in 2023 and one this year at first base.
He subsequently joins an elite four-man company to win a Silver Slugger at three different positions. The other three include Albert Pujols, who won it at first base, third base and outfield; Miguel Cabrera, who also won it in similar positions as Pujols; and Al Oliver, who won it at first base, DH and outfield.
This season, Bryce Harper started as the NL MVP favorite but lost his contention after a skid post the All-Star break. Still, he finished the regular season hitting .285, 30 home runs, seven stolen bases and 87 RBIs.
However, the Philadelphia Phillies couldn't translate their terrific regular season into the postseason, going down against divisional rivals New York Mets in the NLDS. Harper wasn't the one to blame for the surprising loss though, as he hit .333, three RBIs and one home run in the divisional series.
Bryce Harper dejected after another great run ends with disappointment
After 13 seasons in, one of modern baseball's best sluggers is still searching for his first World Series. While Bryce Harper's first stay with the Washington Nationals remained mostly out of the postseason, his stint with the Phillies raised hopes in the past few years. However, each time they seemed like the team to beat, they ended up in disappointment.
After going down against the Mets in four NLDS games, Harper wore a dejected look on his face.
"Every loss is kind of the same, man," Harper said via ESPN. "Any time you lose and don't finish the job of a World Series, it's the same – if it's the next round or the World Series round, it all feels pretty similar."
Notably, Harper still has seven years left on his massive 13-year, $330,000,000 contract with the Phillies, but with each passing year, his dream to win one has come up short.