Philadelphia Phillies First Baseman Snubbed in Latest Hitter Power Rankings

While the power has not been there this season for Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper, he has still been one of the best hitters in the sport.

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The Philadelphia Phillies have been one of the best all-around teams in Major League Baseball this season, and it has led them to a tie with the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the sport with only nine games left to play.

A key piece of the Phillies' success this season has been superstar Bryce Harper.

Playing first base full-time for the first time in his career, the future Hall of Famer has yet again put up numbers that should see him garner a top-10 finish for the National League MVP, not even to mention a potential Silver Slugger award.

Entering play Friday with a .288/.375/.534 line on the year with 29 home runs, 86 RBI, and a 152 OPS+, Harper has once again proved that he is still one of the best hitters currently calling MLB home, even as he creeps farther into his 30s.

The first baseman has better over the last 28 days, batting .354/.431/.594 with three home runs, 13 RBI, and a 188 OPS+ in that time.

In the latest hitter power rankings from MLB.com, and the last of the season, however, Harper was listed only as an "honorable mention."

This is a massive snub, even with the hot streaks some of the hitters listed in the top 10 of that list find themselves in.

While you will be hard-pressed to find even the biggest of Philadelphia fans to say Harper has had a better season than Aaron Judge or Shohei Ohtani, having Luis Arraez ranked higher is a slap in the face to the two-time MVP.

What Arraez is capable of doing at the plate is impressive, especially in the day and age of 100+ MPH fastballs thrown by more pitchers than ever before.

But keeping away from strikeouts is not something that makes a hitter one of the best in the game when that is the only impressive aspect of their game.

It must be paired with an ability to draw walks or carrying an ISO better than .072.

For even more reference, Harper's .909 OPS this year ranks him ninth in MLB, while Arraez's .747 mark ranks him 68th.

For those of you keeping score at home, that is a difference of 59 positions, and that is just in the most simple of metrics to compare hitters.

70 of Harper's 150 hits this season have been for extra bases, while only 34 of Arraez's 194 have been a double or better.

While Harper does strike out much more than Arraez (126 for Harper, 28 for Arraez), Harper also draws many more walks (72 to 24).

While an argument could be made for multiple entries on the latest power rankings from MLB.com being incorrectly ranked higher than the superstar first baseman, Arraez is the most egregious.

Harper was snubbed in the final MLB.com power rankings of the season, and Phillies fans are not mad, they are just disappointed.