Will Philadelphia Phillies Star Bryce Harper Have a Better Career Than Mike Trout?

When it's all said and done, will Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies have a better career than Mike Trout?

July 9, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; American League outfielder Mike Trout (right) of the Los Angeles Angels poses for a photo with National League outfielder Bryce Harper (left) of the Washington Nationals during practice for the 2012 All Star Game at Kauffman Stadium. / H. Darr Beiser-USA TODAY

As the Philadelphia Phillies continue through September, they are preparing for the playoffs and what they hope will be a memorable season. 

Over the past number of years, the Phillies have been a perennial contender in the National League, and a lot of that is because of the big move they made to sign Bryce Harper to a long-term deal. 

Harper signed with Philadelphia in 2019 after starting his career with the Washington Nationals. Considered to be a generational talent, Harper has arguably lived up to the lofty expectations so far and will likely be a Hall of Famer one day. 

While Harper has been great, there has always been a comparison between him and Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels. Since Harper and Trout started their careers at the same time, the two are always going to be linked together. 

Recently, Bleacher Report spoke about some potentially unpopular opinions, one of which is that Harper will have a better career than Trout. 

For years, the comparison between Trout and Harper was fairly one-sided. Trout was on his way to becoming one of the best players of all-time. Unfortunately, that gap has shrunk because of injuries to Trout. 

Since 2019, Trout hasn’t come close to playing a full season for the Angels, as he has only played over 100 games once in that span. While Trout has missed a lot of time, Harper has also had to deal with his share of injuries, fortunately not as many as Trout. 

At 33-years-old, it is sadly becoming possible that we have already seen the best of Trout. Five years of injuries certainly have derailed his career, and it’s hard to imagine him being healthier as he gets older. 

While Trout has certainly had the more dominant years, Harper is catching up statistically. One of the big things that Harper has the advantage in is postseason success. 

Despite being the best player in baseball for many years, Trout has only appeared in three postseason games, and Los Angeles hasn’t had much team success with him. 

For Harper, he has performed very well in the playoffs, especially with the Phillies. In 49 postseason games, Harper has totaled a .276 batting average, 16 home runs, and 31 RBIs. Even though he has played well, winning a World Series has still eluded Harper. 

With the gap between Harper and Trout closing in recent years, this will be an exciting debate as the two hopefully continue to play for several more years.