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Bryce Harper Wins NL Silver Slugger Award
Stop us if you've heard this before: Bryce Harper won an award. That's right, the Philadelphia Phillies right fielder, after his career year in 2021, was announced as the recipient of a National League Silver Slugger Award on Thursday.
The Award was the second Silver Slugger of Harper's career, the first one coming in (you guessed it!) 2015, his MVP season with the Washington Nationals.
Along with the Silver Slugger, Harper has been named the MLBPA NL Outstanding Player, a Hank Aaron Award winner, and a Musial Award Winner.
Of course, the accolades keep coming in to properly recognize just how stunning of a season, particularly second-half, that Harper had. The Phillies not making the postseason shouldn't take away from the fact that Harper had an outstanding season, where he exceeded expectations, producing one of the best second-halves in Phillies' history.
Harper's slashline of .309/.429/.615 with 35 home runs, 42 doubles, and a major league-leading 1.044 OPS earned him the award for the second time in his career. He also led the majors in doubles, slugging percentage, and OPS+.
His teammate, catcher J.T. Realmuto, was also up for the Award. Had Realmuto won, it would have been the third of his career. But Realmuto fell to San Francisco Giants' vet Buster Posey, who announced his retirement from MLB last week.
At this point, it's only natural to assume that Harper is now coming for the NL MVP, which would be the second of his career, but his first in a Phillies uniform. The MVP winners will be announced on Nov. 18 on MLB Network.
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