REAPORT: The “new” first baseman for the Phillies is ranked highly in MLB.
Even though the Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper has only played in less than 40 games at first base, he is already well respected.
Even though Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies has only played in a small number of games during his career, the slugger is already well-regarded at first base.
The Top 10 first basemen in the game were ranked by MLB Network on Thursday as part of their “Top 10 Right Now” series, with Harper coming in at number two.
Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the only first baseman who was ranked higher than him.
Last season, Harper had to move to first base due to necessity. He underwent Tommy John surgery in November 2022, and he came back to the field in May to bat as a designated hitter.
Harper was able to play in the field by the All-Star break, but only at first base, where he didn’t need to utilize his arm as much.
This was Harper’s first job. He made two appearances at first base prior to the current campaign: one in 2021 with the Phillies and the other in 2018 with the Washington Nationals.
In the end, he appeared in 36 first-base games during the regular season with just one error.
As a designated hitter, he won his third career Silver Slugger, and in the meantime, his bat gained velocity. He slashed in 126 games.With 29 doubles, one triple, 21 home runs, and 72 RBI, he is hitting 293/.401/.499/.900. Before losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Championship Series, he and the Phillies advanced that far.
The remaining players in the Top 10 were Matt Olson of Atlanta, Paul Goldschmidt of St. Louis, Yandy Díaz of Tampa Bay, Pete Alonso of the New York Mets, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of Toronto, free agent Brandon Belt, Christian Walker of Arizona, and Triston Casas of Boston.
