Bryce Harper Poised For Another MVP Season

In 2014, Bryce Harper had the worst season of his infant career. Dealing with a thumb injury that cost him a good portion of the season, he finished with career lows in runs, hits, home runs, and slugging percentage among other things. With the rise of fellow youngster Mike Trout over in the American League, the lofty expectations that were once placed on Harper momentarily cooled. Then last year, those expectations boarded a rocket ship and took off, as Harper was at the peak of his powers. Slashing .330/.460/.649 and slugging 42 HR to go with 118 R and 99 RBI, he won the NL MVP Award for the first time in his career. The scariest thing of all? He did it at just 22 years of age, becoming the third youngest player to win the award, just behind two guys named Johnny Bench and Stan Musial. Harper’s outstanding season will be difficult to replicate, but can you put it past him to do so? Washington’s lineup has seen improvements, which always work in the favor of the team’s best hitter. One thing Harper did quite well last year was decrease his K% from 26 down to 20, which in turn increased his BB% by 10, up to 19.0%. If he can remain disciplined at the plate, the sky’s the limit. Look for Harper’s HR total to be right up there in the high 30s or low 40s once more. His RBI totals should also remain on par, perhaps grow with some improved hitters joining him. His batting average should remain over .300, but perhaps not as exceptional as it was last year. All in all, Bryce Harper is a top two pick, a coin flip with the aforementioned Trout. The only question here is whether the reigning MVP can go back-to-back.