Following the worst month of his 15-year career in July, Philadelphia Phillies’ superstar right fielder Bryce Harper had to come out swinging in August in order to keep his team in playoff position.
The All-Star did just that, having what might be considered the best month of his entire career to pull the Phillies to the top National League Wild Card spot, and just four games back of the Atlanta Braves going into their four-game series in early September.
Harper hit to an incredible .333 batting average with a 1.042 OPS over 28 games, leading the team to a historic 21-7 month.
Not only was the 33-year-old swinging a hot bat, but he laid off when he needed to.
With the much needed protection of Luis Arráez, Harper walked a league-leading 31 times in August, the most in a single month since Juan Soto in June of 2024.
Not to mention his team-first decision to move back to right field from first base, a position he has not played since the 2022 season.
The individual success as well as the team success led to a confusing decision by Major League Baseball to not include Harper as a part of their “Team of the Month” awards.
The three outfielders picked ahead of Harper were Rays’ Chandler Simpson, Royals’ Jac Caglianone, and Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong.
While the argument can be made for the MVP front-runner in PCA, and perhaps the American League Player of the Month Caglianone, it does not make much sense to include the speedster in Simpson on the list.
Despite hitting to a near .400 batting average in the month of August, Simpson only produced a .809 OPS, .233 points lower than Harper’s. While the Rays’ had an impressive 17-9 August, Simpson was not the player leading the charge.
Per Dugout Forever on Instagram, Harper’s 63 times on base in August is the most in a single month since Yankees’ Aaron Judge in his MVP winning 2025 season. A statistic that should, at the very least, push Harper as a top three outfielder during the month.
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