Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper Off To MVP Start

Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper is showing old flashes of his 2015 MVP season and if he keeps performing like this it could end up as his second.

Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper seems to like April. Who doesn’t, it is the start to a new season.

He doesn’t just like it though, he loves it. Everyone can see it by the two homer game he hit on Easter Sunday which included a walkoff homer, and the two-homer night including a grand slam on Wednesday night in Atlanta.

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So far, Harper has a .404 batting average, as of Wednesday night, with 18 RBI’s and six home runs. On Opening Day he hit a home run which was his fifth. Everyone knows that Harper is off to a great start, but the real question is can he sustain this tremendous start.

Last year, Harper got off to a good start with a .286 batting average with 24 RBI’s and nine home runs. Then, in May, his numbers dropped down big time. He hit a whopping .200 with 10 RBI’s and four home runs. In July of last season he had a .176 batting average and then a .203 batting average in September.

So, last year it was obvious that he got a good start to April, but did not produce in the months following.

In his 2015 season, when he won the MVP, he had a .286 batting average. Then, in May, June, July, August and September he had a batting average of at least .300. The only months of the season he didn’t hit at least .300 was April and October which were the months that started and ended the season.

Dusty Baker has constructed this lineup so Harper has protection. Last year that wasn’t the case with Ryan Zimmermann hitting behind him, who seemed to struggle a bit in the clutch moments.

Now this year Harper is hitting behind Adam Eaton and in front of Daniel Murphy. Hitting in front of Murphy lets Harper get more pitches to hit because they don’t want Harper on with Murphy still coming up. Having the lineup this way should help his production throughout the season.

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Nationals fans have seen the good and bad sides of the production from Harper, and hoping to see the old Harper when he won the 2015 National League MVP. He is off to a great start towards it, and is the best player in the league right now.