Bryce Harper wins NL May Player of the Month after explosive start to the season

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper has been named the Player of the Month for his outstanding play in May.

Harper’s hot hitting helped propel the Phillies to a historically great start to the 2024 season and the best record in the National League. In what is shaping up to be a special season of baseball in Philadelphia, Harper’s honor is likely to be the first of many.

Bryce Harper posted a slash line of .313/.407/.583 and led the National League in OPS (.990), RBI (24) and fWAR (1.4) in May. His 174 wRC+ tied for second place in the NL with Joey Ortiz, with the highest being Shohei Ohtani at 179. The Phillies superstar notched 30 hits, 19 runs, 16 walks, seven home runs, five doubles and two stolen bases.

In 26 games, Harper had nine with multiple hits, six with multiple RBI and only five in which he did not reach base safely at least once — and that includes the game against the Colorado Rockies where he was ridiculously ejected in the first inning. He entered the month with an OPS of .805 and exited at .895.

May was a great month for the Phillies overall, as they won 20 games and shot up the standings to build a massive division lead. At 41-19, they were the first club to win 40 games and have the second-best record in all of MLB. Harper is one of many players who have played spectacularly for the Phils this season, setting them up to have a wildly fun and entertaining summer and another successful October.

This is Harper’s third time receiving the Player of the Month honor in his career. It’s his first with the Phillies, as his previous wins came in May 2015 and April 2016 with the Washington Nationals. He also won the NL Player of the Week award in 2022 for the week ending on May 15. The last Phillies player to be named the POTM was Kyle Schwarber in June of 2022.

Aaron Judge, the superstar outfielder for the American League-leading New York Yankees, won the AL Player of the Month award for May 2024.