Bryce Harper’s postseason has been electric and historic

The Philadelphia Phillies dominated the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday night with a 10-2 victory, putting them just one win away from reaching the NLCS for the second year in a row. Leading the charge for the Phillies is their star first baseman Bryce Harper. Harper has been outstanding in the postseason this year, with a .353 batting average, a .500 on-base percentage, and a .882 slugging percentage, resulting in a remarkable 1.382 OPS.

Harper has always excelled in the postseason, even though he’s yet to win a World Series championship. In fact, he was named the NLCS MVP in 2022. His career OPS in the postseason is an impressive 1.010.

This raises the intriguing question: just how great has Harper’s postseason career been?

A Record-Breaking October Hitter

Harper has hit 14 home runs in his postseason career, placing him 18th on the all-time list. What’s more remarkable is that he achieved this feat in just 41 games. Only Babe Ruth has hit more home runs than Harper in as few games, with 15 homers in his first 41 playoff games.

But that’s not the only similarity between Ruth and Harper. They are also the only two players in MLB history to have at least 100 postseason plate appearances, 14 or more home runs, and a slugging percentage of .635 or higher.

Harper is part of an exclusive group of 11 players with an OPS greater than 1.000 in the postseason and at least 100 plate appearances. Out of those 11 players, only two (Carlos Beltran and George Brett) have more postseason plate appearances than Harper, highlighting his sustained success over a significant period of time.

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Will Harper Finally Capture a World Series Title?

Among the top five active players with the highest career postseason OPS, only one player, Jorge Soler, has won a World Series championship, and he has won two. While Harper’s individual brilliance is unquestionable, the team’s success depends on clutch hitting from the entire lineup. Unfortunately, Harper’s teammates don’t have the strongest track record in the postseason.

The only other player on the Phillies with a career postseason OPS of at least .800 is Kyle Schwarber.

Although Trea Turner has made a strong start to his Phillies postseason career, collecting four extra-base hits in just five games, his playoff slugging percentage before joining Philadelphia was only .319. However, what matters most is getting hot at the right time, and if Turner maintains his current performance, the Phillies’ chances of winning it all will significantly improve.

When is the Next Phillies Game?

The NLCS Game 4 will take place at 8:07 pm ET. The Phillies, led by Bryce Harper, will be playing at home in Citizens Bank Park against their division rivals, the Atlanta Braves, who had the most wins in MLB this regular season with 104. Philadelphia currently leads the best-of-five series 2-1.

You can catch the game on either TBS or TruTV.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Bryce Harper is officially a historically good postseason hitter