The Philadelphia Phillies advanced to the NLCS for the second straight year with a 10-2 victory Wednesday night. Bryce Harper, their first baseman, has been a significant part of their success. Harper has a.353/.500/.882 slash line in five playoff games this year. That results in a 1.382 OPS.
Harper has always performed well in the playoffs. Though he has no World Series titles to his credit, it is through no fault of his own. After all, the two-time National League MVP was the NLCS MVP in 2022. In the playoffs, his lifetime OPS is an astounding 1.010.
“How great has Harper’s postseason career been?”
An all-time October powerhouse
Harper has 14 career postseason home runs. This is ranked 18th all-time. He is thirty years old. All but two players ahead of Harper (Nelson Cruz and Jim Thome) have won at least one World Series.
Even scary, Harper accomplished this feat in just 41 games. Babe Ruth holds the record for most home runs hit in a single game in MLB history, with 15 in 41 career postseason games.
That isn’t the only thing Ruth and Harper have in common: they are the only two players in MLB history to have at least 100 postseason plate appearances, 14 or more home runs, and a slugging percentage of.635 or higher.
Harper is also one of just 11 players with at least 100 plate appearances and an OPS over 1.000 in the playoffs. Only two of those 11 players (Carlos Beltran and George Brett) have more playoff plate appearances than Harper, implying that Harper has been at this level of success for a long time, longer than most anybody in history, yet he has nothing to show for it.
Will this achievement lead to a World Series victory?
Only one of the five current players with the best career postseason OPS has a World Series championship to his credit, and he has two. Harper is just one guy, no matter how wonderful he is. Above all, clutch hitting from everyone in the lineup is critical, and Harper’s teammates don’t have the finest playoff track record.
Kyle Schwarber is the only other Phillies player with a career playoff OPS of at least.800.
While Trea Turner has had a strong start to his Phillies postseason career, with four extra-base hits in only five games, his playoff slugging percentage before to joining the team was just.319. Of course, being hot at the right moment is all that counts, and if Turner maintains this pace, the Phillies have a far higher chance of winning it all.
When are the Phillies’ next games?
Game 4 of the National League Championship Series begins at 8:07 p.m. ET. Harper’s Phillies will face their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves, at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves lead MLB in victories during the regular season with 104. The series is now 2-1 in favor of Philadelphia.
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