Bryce Harper clubbed home run No. 26 on Monday night against the Washington Nationals, keeping up the torrid pace at which he's climbed the National League MVP ladder throughout August. With one more game to go, Harper's slash line for the month is a jaw-dropping .323/.444/.774, though it's some of the counting stats that really open our eyes.
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With that aforementioned dinger, an absolute moonshot into deep right field, he belted his tenth home run of the month. That, paired with 10 doubles — he hit five in the four games prior to Monday — gives him a rare offensive output in a single month that not too many other players can boast. According to Stathead, Harper is the first player with a 10-HR, 10-2B month since Josh Bell did it in May of 2019. Some others who have accomplished it are Babe Ruth (4x), Lou Gehrig (5x) and Albert Pujols (3x). All in all, 54 players had done it before Harper joined the group.
But as Matt Gelb points out, that group gets even smaller when you add in the fact that Harper has also drawn 20 walks in August, narrowing the group from 55 people to just 14. Ruth and Gehrig each did that four times (wow!) so the total number of seasons sits at 20.
Quick fun fact: when Ruth did this in July of 1920, his slash line for the month was a hard-to-fathom .440/.614/.970. Just think about that for a second.
But enough about the Babe. Harper's Ruthian month is one for the ages, and should he continue throughout September, there's a chance he can lead the Phillies in their attempt to claw their way to an unlikely playoff spot.
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