Opening in Washington, Bryce Harper reflects on historic first MVP season 10 years later

WASHINGTON — As the makings of a historic season solidified, a 22-year-old Bryce Harper took a swing that still sticks out in his mind. It was still early into the young, then-Nationals superstar’s first MVP campaign when he stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the score tied against Atlanta reliever Cody Martin on May 9, 2015.

Harper, gripping his bat with a red glove on his right hand and a bare left palm, kicked his leg and golfed a low pitch over the fence for a game-winning blast. The phenom’s sixth home run in three days sent Nationals Park into a frenzy that afternoon, one of many times Harper delivered on his way to a unanimous National League MVP award. His drive was a highlight of what turned out to be one of the best offensive seasons in recent memory.

“I hit a two-run walk-off against the Braves on a slider, down and in over the plate a little bit, to right-center,” Harper recalled earlier this month. “I remember that one probably the most. Just a really cool moment for our team, I would say, just because it’s the Braves. Really good team, we’re in the division, going at it.”

In that season, Harper fully arrived. He entered the big leagues in 2012 as a teenager, winning Rookie of the Year with as much hype and as many expectations surrounding him as any player ever. He proved it was all warranted in 2015 as he led the National League in home runs and the majors in on-base and slugging percentage while becoming just the sixth player to win an MVP at age 22 or younger.

On Thursday afternoon, Harper, now a member of the Philadelphia Phillies, returned to his old home for Opening Day in Washington, a fitting place to start as 10 years have passed since his 2015 season. Things have changed in a decade. Harper is now in the seventh season of a 13-year contract with a different NL East club and has moved from right field to first base. He’s married his wife, Kayla, and the two have three children, Krew, Brooklyn and Kamryn. He’s developed from the hair-on-fire newcomer to a calmer, but still passionate, veteran.

“I mean, 22 years old to 32, it’s a long time, right?” Harper said in a conversation with Phillies Nation. “Obviously, kids, family, things like that away from the field. And on the field, just trying to mature swing wise. Fielding, playing a new position now, just trying to come into my own a little bit more every year. And I always say, you can get better every year in a lot of capacities in your game. And I can take a lot of good things from that year as well, from on-base to OPS to homers, average — all of it.”

Harper’s numbers that season were incredible — still the best of his career. Under manager Matt Williams, a former power hitter himself, Harper was a force from the left side of the plate. He hit 42 home runs and slashed .330/.460/.649 with a 198 OPS+ and a 9.7 WAR.

The combination of age and production was staggering. In the history of Major League Baseball, only 26 hitters have posted at least one season with an OPS+ of 198 or higher. Harper joined that elite company as just the second 22-year-old to reach that mark (Ted Williams, 235 OPS+ in 1941) and was the youngest player by four years to do so in the Divisional Era.

“It was obviously incredible to see in person,” Phillies pitcher Joe Ross, a rookie with the Nationals in 2015 and now a teammate of Harper’s again, said, “and I really can’t find the words to describe that. He steps in the box, you expect him to do something insane. And more often than not, he does and he comes through in the clutch.”

Ross described that season as a “whirlwind.” He was called up in May and was suddenly playing alongside big names like Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Max Scherzer. It was a lot to take in, but watching Harper perform like the best hitter in baseball was “a big chunk” of the experience.

Harper, on the other hand, didn’t have much appreciation for what he was accomplishing at the time. As a competitor, he struggles to take pleasure in his success on a day-to-day basis. He said that Kayla has helped encourage him to take a step back once in a while and relish his achievements. It’s still a work in progress, but he’s made some strides in the last 10 years.

“I wish I would have enjoyed it more,” Harper said. “I think, as an individual, I don’t enjoy those things as much as I should, just because it’s always on to the next. What can I do better? How can I do better? When can I win another one? That kind of thing. But at that young age, I wish I would have enjoyed it more. I wish I would’ve enjoyed it with my family. I wish I enjoyed it with my wife a little bit more, just things like that.

“This game is very hard. It’s a tough game to play, so I think you should enjoy those times a little bit more because of all the hard work you put in, your teammates put in and things like that. So I wish I would’ve enjoyed it a little bit more.”

While Harper has not quite reached the highs of 2015 again — a very tall task — he’s still regarded as one of the most feared hitters in the sport and has added more hardware to his collection. “I feel like every year since then, he’s in the race, if not at the top,” Ross said. Harper won his second NL MVP with the Phillies in 2021. He claimed an NL Championship Series MVP trophy in 2022 after hitting a go-ahead homer to lift the Phillies to the pennant.

The one thing that’s missing is a World Series championship, and Harper’s reception in Washington on Thursday was, in part, a reflection of that. As the slugger smacked a game-tying home run in the seventh inning of an eventual extra-inning Phillies win to almost the same part of the stadium as his 2015 walk-off, the home crowd serenaded him with loud boos, just as it did during player introductions prior to the game and before all his at-bats.

Harper left the Nats for the Phillies before the 2019 season after Washington made an offer that “hurt” the former No. 1 overall pick, he said on a podcast the next year. The Nationals failed to compete with Harper’s eventual $330 million deal with Philadelphia that included no deferred money.

Washington then went on to win the World Series in 2019. Former Nationals stars from that championship team who were later traded or signed elsewhere, such as current Phillie Trea Turner, are now greeted warmly in Washington. Harper, fair or not, does not get the same treatment since joining a division rival before the run.

“I love coming in here and playing in this stadium,” Harper said after Thursday’s game. “I’ve got a lot of great memories in here as well. Everywhere I go, it’s exactly like this. Some places are louder than others. It’s all the same.”

Despite the animosity from the fans, Harper clearly cherishes a lot from his days in the nation’s capital. He was drafted, started his career and reached his ever-promising potential with the Nationals, putting up the best individual season in franchise history while doing so.

“That was a great year of my career,” Harper said. “And hopefully I have a little bit of magic from that year to this year.”