Washington Nationals Editorial: 2015 Naughty Or Nice List

Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Bryce Harper: Nice List

When making this list, Harper was the most obvious choice for the nice list. Harper has been adding to his trophy case this offseason as he won the NL MVP, a Silver Slugger Award, and the Hank Aaron award in the National League among others. It was a season in which Nationals fans and baseball fans in general were able to watch a 22-year-old emerge into one of the best players in the game.

In 153 games, Harper had a slash line of .330/.460/.649 with 42 home runs, 99 RBI’s, 130 walks, and 118 runs scored. He hit over .300 in the final five months of the season and was constantly finding ways to reach base every single day. He led the league in home runs, RBI’s, slugging percentage, and OPS (1.109).

The Nats’ top pick in the 2010 MLB Draft was able to stay healthy and avoided going on the disabled list. Plus, he was able to show why he is not one of the most overrated players in the game. While he did get ejected from games on a couple of occasions and had the incident with Jonathan Papelbon (we will get to him later), Harper still matured as a player in 2015.

Now, with Harper being a free agent after the 2018 season, Nationals’ fans would like this Christmas or In the near future to have Harper’s contract extended and stay in DC as one of their presents. It will be interesting to see whether Mike Rizzo and the front office can work out a deal with Harper and his agent, Scott Boras, to keep him in the nation’s capital.

Next: Nice List #2