The Hank Aaron Award is voted on by fans, as well as a special panel of Hall of Fame players. Check out Bryce Harper hank aaron award here.
Bryce Harper : Hank Aaron Award | World Series
Harper played for the United States U-18 baseball team in 2008 and 2009, before he was drafted by the Nationals.
On August 12, 2022, Harper announced that he would join the United States national baseball team in the 2023 World Baseball Classic, joining fellow Phillie J. T. Realmuto.
The Washington Nationals chose Harper with the first overall selection of the 2010 Major League Baseball draft.
Although Harper had previously and predominantly played catcher, the Nationals drafted him as an outfielder to extend his career and to accelerate his player development so that he could debut in MLB earlier.
Bryce Harper Hank Aaron Award
Firmly in the National League MVP conversation and a likely Silver Slugger winner in the outfield, Bryce Harper is also a finalist for the Hank Aaron Award, presented each year to the top offensive player in each league.
The NL’s seven finalists are Harper, Nick Castellanos, Brandon Crawford, Freddie Freeman, Paul Goldschmidt, Juan Soto and Fernando Tatis Jr.
Freeman and Jose Abreu, the 2020 MVPs, were also last year’s Hank Aaron Award-winners. The award has existed since 1999 and one Phillie, Ryan Howard in his 2006 MVP season, has won it.
Major League Baseball announced on Tuesday night that the Phillies’ right fielder won the NL’s Hank Aaron Award for most outstanding regular-season offensive performer in 2021. Harper last week won the Players Choice Award for NL Outstanding Player, which is a players-only vote.
The Hank Aaron Award is voted on by fans, as well as a special panel of Hall of Fame players that includes Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey Jr. and Robin Yount.
Harper batted .309 with 42 doubles, one triple, 35 home runs, 84 RBIs, a 1.044 OPS and a 179 OPS+ in 2021. He led the Majors in doubles, slugging percentage (.615), OPS and OPS+. He ranked second in the NL in fWAR (6.6), on-base percentage (.429) and walks (100); third in batting average and outfield assists (10); sixth in home runs and runs (101) and ninth in bWAR (5.9) and even tied for 12th in stolen bases (13).
World series
Bryce Harper knew the Washington Nationals were going to win the World Series in 2019 well before he decided to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.
He knew it as soon as the team withdrew from his free-agency bidding. He knew it because the team spent its money elsewhere by signing pitcher Patrick Corbin for six years and $140 million. And Harper knew that was the missing piece all along.
“I said to Scott [Boras], I said, ‘They’re going to win the World Series,'” Harper told the Starting 9 podcast on Monday. “They looked at me dead in the eye and they go, ‘No chance.’ I go, ‘I promise you they’re going to win the World Series.'”
Harper didn’t look pained as he made the comment. It was more just a realization that the team finally had what it needed to win—and that didn’t include its homegrown superstar.
As part of a starting rotation with Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg, Corbin was electric last season. He tossed more than 200 innings for the third time in his career, finishing with 3.25 ERA, 238 strikeouts, 70 walks and a WHIP of 1.18.
In the World Series he was equally lights-out, posting a 3.60 ERA with 10 strikeouts on two walks in 10 total innings of work as the Nationals defeated the Houston Astros in seven games.
“They were always one pitcher away,” Harper said. “They finally got that pitcher. And they used it perfectly in the playoffs.
They had the three horses, and I knew they were going to score runs; they’re a really good team. … I knew that if they got into the playoffs and got through that first round … they’re going to win the whole thing.”
The Phillies, meanwhile, finished 12 games back of the Nationals in the National League East with an 81-81 record. Making matters more uncomfortable, the Nats went 14-5 against Harper’s new club.
While Washington spent September gearing up for the postseason, Philadelphia was limping across the finish line at 9-16 on the month.
Harper said he knew he was joining a young team that would need time to develop. He also knew he was leaving a club ready to contend right then.