Skip to Search Skip to Live Player Skip to Content Skip to Footer

Phillies

Phillies

Phillies

Bryce Harper Is The Greatest Playoff Hitter Ever, And The Stats Prove It

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image
Author and Dylan MacKinnon
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 11: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates after hitting a three run home run against Bryce Elder #55 of the Atlanta Braves during the third inning in Game Three of the Division Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 11, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

All Bryce Harper has done in two playoff appearances with the Phillies is hit baseballs a long way. He has played 25 playoff games with the Phillies. In that time he has 10 HRs, 7 doubles, 20 RBIs, and 22 runs. His slash line is .360/.457/.775/1.232. If you expand those stats over a full 162-game season, he would have 67 HRs, 47 doubles, and 133 RBIs. He is on another level when he gets to the playoffs. And he may just be one of the best, if not the best, playoff hitters of all time. That is not just me saying that, the stats say it. And Jayson Stark joined The Best Show Ever and shared some great stats that help make that case.

“3rd highest postseason slugging percentage in the history of baseball. Ruth, Gehrig, Bryce. So that is a good list. In postseason OPS, he has passed 3 Hall of famers in the last week. Now he is 3rd All-Time in post-season OPS. Who is ahead of him? Ruth and Gehrig again, and that is it.”

Only Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are better. And they obviously played in a very different time. All of the more modern playoff heroes, like David Oritz, Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson… Harper has a better  Slugging % and OPS than them. And if you count just his time with the Phillies, he is far and away better than everyone.

Philadelphia Phillies on Twitter: "BRYCE HARPER IS A PHILADELPHIA PHILLIE pic.twitter.com/UjLTijwIqe / Twitter"

BRYCE HARPER IS A PHILADELPHIA PHILLIE pic.twitter.com/UjLTijwIqe

But Jayson Stark found another interesting stat that makes the case for Bryce Harper as the best postseason hitter ever. Win Probability Added, or WPS for short. If you are not familiar with what that is, here is how Fangraphs, who invented the stats, defines it.

“WPA is the difference in win expectancy (WE) between the start of the play and the end of the play. That difference is then credited/debited to the batter and the pitcher. Over the course of the season, each players’ WPA for individual plays is added up to get his season total WPA.”

It basically measures how many game-changing moments a player has. Well, that stat is very kind to Bryce Harper, as Jayson Stark went on to explain to us.

“He is already 11th all time in the Fangraphs computations of Win Probability Added. Of the 10 players ahead of him, he has played fewer games than all of them except Gehrig. And in most cases, many fewer games. He has played half as many games as David Ortiz. At the rate he has created these types of game-changing moments, if he had as many plate appearances in the postseason as David Ortiz, he would be vastly ahead of everyone who has ever played baseball. 

And that comes as no surprise to any of us. It feels like Harper is constantly coming up with clutch hits. There was “the swing of his life” last postseason. This year he had the 3-run shot off Bryce Elder that basically ended the Braves’ hopes of winning anything. The guy is built for big moments. We already knew it. Now thanks to Jayson Stark, we have the stats to back it up. If he keeps up this level of play, he will have the best Playoff WPA in MLB history.

I do not think I can put it any better than Jayson Stark did, so I will just leave you with his final words on Harper.

“That is what we are watching. We are watching something very special.”

You can listen to the full conversation with Jayson Stark below:

Listen to or Watch  ‘The Best Show Ever?’ Live on the 97.5 The Fanatic and on NBC Sports Philly from 2 to 6 pm Every Weekday

11 Bryce Harper Highlights That Define A Phillies Superstar

When the Phillies signed Bryce Harper in 2019, they knew they were getting one of the most colorful personalities in baseball. However, they might not have known that the former first-overall pick would become one of the highlights of Philadelphia sports history as a player who saves his best performances for the biggest moments.

Bryce Harper Highlights: The Clutch Gene

When Harper steps to the plate at Citizens Bank Park, the crowd feels a sense of confidence. It’s typical for fans to get excited about a two-time National League MVP, but the fearless attitude that Harper carries takes things to a different level.

It could be within the frenzy of a Red October crowd or during a day game in May against a last-place team. At any given moment, opponents cannot underestimate Harper.

“Bryce Harper is a superstar, a magnetic personality, but at the same time, this guy plays hard. He cares about every pitch that’s thrown. He acts like every pitch is the last one he’s ever going to see. In the city of Philadelphia, they really appreciate that.” –Raul Ibanez

The Superstar Attitude

Philadelphia saw the flamboyant attitude of the anointed savior when he reached the majors with the Washington Nationals in 2012. Cole Hamels plunked the loudmouth rookie in a May series in Philadelphia, but Harper got the last laugh. He used the free base to steal home for the upstart Nationals. It was a spark for a team that ultimately dethroned the five-time defending NL East champs that season.

The tide turned when the Philadelphia Phillies signed Harper in 2019. A hated opponent immediately became a celebrated hero. He passed on wearing #34 out of respect for Roy Halladay. He put on the Phillie Phanatic cleats. The fans almost lost their minds after the curtain call that followed his first home run in red pinstripes.

“Bryce Harper might be the most clutch player I’ve ever seen in Philadelphia…The guy just has it in him. There’s people that seem to play well in big moments, and there’s people that crave big moments. I think he’s the guy that craves it AND does it.” -Bob Cooney

A superstar comes up with a big play when his teammates turn to him in times of need. No professional athlete fits the definition better than Bryce Harper, and he has created some of the most incredible highlights that Phillies fans will ever see.

11 Best Bryce Harper Highlights

  • 11. NLCS 2022: Early Home Run Quiets St. Louis Crowd

     

    An unexpected comeback against the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the 2022 NL Wild Card Series gave the Phillies momentum in what would ultimately become a miracle run to the World Series. Harper stepped to the plate in Game 2 in front of the “Baseball Heaven” crowd at Busch Stadium with a trip to the NLDS on his mind. He went deep off Miles Mikolas in what proved to be the game-winning hit in a 2-0 series clincher.

  • 10. Harper Stuns Doval, Giants (August 23, 2023)

     

    After Harper returned from Tommy John surgery in 2023, he struggled to find his power stroke right away. However, the two-time MVP heated up toward the end of the season. When the Phillies trailed the San Francisco Giants in the 9h inning of a late August matchup, he stepped to the plate with two men on.

    When Bryce Harper represents the tying run, he has one thing on his mind. His three-run blast off 25-year-old shutdown closer Camilo Doval tied the game 5-5 and set the crowd at Citizens Bank Park on fire.

  • 9. NLDS 2022: Solo Shot Causes Panic in Atlanta

     

    Momentum is invaluable in the MLB Playoffs. Harper’s home run in St. Louis quieted the crowd and set the tone for a road victory, and he repeated the feat 364 days later. His Game 1 home run off Spencer Strider at Truist Park pushed a sense of doubt into the Atlanta crowd. They were officially afraid of Harper and the red-hot Phillies.

  • 8. NL Wild Card Series 2023: Blowing the Stop Sign

     

    Phillies fans entered the 2023 postseason excited for another World Series run. The anticipation grew in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series when Bryce Harper brought the fearless attitude that first endeared him in Philadelphia.

    The Phillies led 3-1 in the 8th inning, but Harper needed some insurance. He sped around from 1st base on a Nick Castellanos gapper while Dusty Wathan held up a stop sign around third (which Harper later claimed that he conveniently missed). The aggressive baserunning helped the Phillies to a 4-1 victory and a series sweep.

  • 7. Debut at 1st Base (July 21, 2023)

     

    Returning nearly two months earlier than expected wasn’t good enough for someone who operates on adrenaline more than any baseball player in the modern era. Harper wasn’t satisfied with staying in the DH spot. He took a crash course to play 1st base, and he looked like a Gold Glover from the first game he played. Natural athleticism and a team-first attitude provided Rob Thomson with lineup flexibility in a season Rhys Hoskins missed with a torn ACL.

  • 6. NLDS 2022: Ambushing the Braves

     

    When the Atlanta Braves traveled to Citizens Bank Park in the 2022 National League Division Series, they didn’t know what hit them. A 9-1 victory in Game 3 and an 8-3 victory in Game 4 sent the NL East champs home early. Harper put the Phillies up 6-0 with a two-run home run early in Game 3. He followed it up with a second home run the following day to stretch Philadelphia’s lead to 7-2 in a laugher to clinch the series. He finished 8/16 with an otherworldly 1.592 SLG% in the series.

  • 5. Walk-Off Grand Slam (August 15, 2019)

     

    The Phillies were hanging onto their Wild Card hopes in mid-August when the Chicago Cubs visited Philadelphia. A sweep presented the opportunity to put them in a great position in the standings, but they entered the 9th inning trailing 5-1. The Cubs felt a little tense when the Phillies cut the lead to two and loaded up the bases for one of the most feared hitters in the majors. Harper’s ball jumped off the bat, and not a single fan at Citizens Bank Park thought there was any chance it stayed in the yard. The newest superstar in the city sprinted around the bases and took a Gatorade cooler bath after crossing home plate.

  • 4. NLCS 2022: A Lead in Game 1

     

    Phillies fans remember Game 1 of the NLCS for the Kyle Schwarber moonshot in the 6th inning. However, it was Bryce Harper who broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run off Yu Darvish in the 4th inning. The Phillies won 2-0 on their way to a dominant series win.

  • 3. World Series 2022: Blowout Puts Phillies Up 2-1

     

    It was the closest the 2022 Phillies came to winning the ultimate prize. They blasted the Houston Astros 7-0 in Game 3 at Citizens Bank Park, improving their home record to 5-0 during the postseason. Harper got things started with a two-run shot in the bottom of the 1st inning. Alec Bohm, Brandon Marsh, Kyle Schwarber, and Rhys Hoskins followed suit with homers of their own. In the moment, they looked unstoppable.

  • 2. NLDS 2023: "Atta Boy" Staredown of Orlando Arcia

     

    Orlando Arcia poked the bear. Harper’s aggressive baserunning style burned the Phillies on a game-ending double play in Game 2 of the 2023 NLDS. Arcia’s taunting backfired. Harper came out in Game 3 with the fire that’s endeared him to the Philadelphia fans as much as any Phillie in history.

    His three-run home run in the 4th inning put the Phillies ahead 4-1. As he rounded second base, he stared down the shortstop with an implication that needed no explanation. He resent the message with an identical staredown after a home run to dead center field two innings later.

  • 1. NLCS 2022: The National League Champions

     

    It was inevitable. When Bryce Haper stepped to the plate in the 8th inning of the 2022 NLCS, every single fan at Citizens Bank Park thought about the moment that just fell into place in front of them. No rain storm could stop him. The ensuing moment sent the Red October crowd into a frenzy. Harper’s opposite-field shot earned him the NLCS MVP. It immediately became the highlight of his career and one of the best moments in the history of a franchise that’s been sound since 1883. 

 

 

 

 

Dylan MacKinnon is The Digital Content Coordinator For 97.5 The Fanatic. he has been an Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, and Flyers fan his whole life. He graduated from Rutgers University with a Bachelors in Journalism. Dylan has worked at the Fanatic since 2016, starting as an Intern, moving to the Street team, and eventually was hired as an Associate Producer before settling into his current role in the Digital Department. You may hear him referred to on-air as "The D-Train."

Sign Up For The Fanatic MVP Insider Newsletter

Get the info you need on the Philly Sports landscape, events you need to know about, exclusive contests, and more.

*
By clicking "Subscribe" I agree to the website's terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I understand I can unsubscribe at any time.
Placeholder Shilloutte User Image
Author and Dylan MacKinnon
Category:
Tags:
,,,

More Phillies // MLB

Load More