'New' Phillies First Baseman Gets High MLB Ranking
He’s only played a smattering of career games at first base, but Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper is already highly thought of at the position.
MLB Network continued its “Top 10 Right Now” series on Thursday by ranking the Top 10 first basemen in the game and Harper was ranked No. 2.
The only first baseman ranked ahead of him was Freddie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Harper became a first baseman out of necessity last season. After he had Tommy John surgery in November of 2022, he returned in May to take swings as a designated hitter.
But, by the All-Star break, Harper was healthy enough to play in the field — but only at first base, a position that didn’t require him to use his arm as much.
It was a new position for Harper. Before last season he played two games at first base — one in 2021 with the Phillies and one in 2018 with the Washington Nationals.
He ended up playing 36 regular-season games at first base and made just one error.
Meanwhile, his bat picked up speed as he won a Silver Slugger as a designated hitter, the third of his career. In 126 games he slashed .293/.401/.499/.900 with 29 doubles, one triple, 21 home runs and 72 RBI. He and the Phillies reached the NL Championship Series before falling to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The rest of the Top 10 included Atlanta’s Matt Olson, St. Louis’ Paul Goldschmidt, Tampa Bay’s Yandy Díaz, the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., free agent Brandon Belt, Arizona’s Christian Walker and Boston’s Triston Casas.
