Bryce Harper already had a slew of accomplishments to his name entering his latest Phillies game. 2012 Rookie of the Year. Eight All-Star Games. Four Silver Sluggers. Two MVPs. And now, 1,000 career RBIs.
Harper blooped a single into left field in the fifth inning Friday night, scoring a runner from third and reaching the plateau that under 300 major leaguers have across the sport’s 132 year lifespan.
After the game, Bryce gave NBC Sports Philadelphia a classic answer on the milestone.
“Not enough,” Harper said. “Got to keep going. Obviously a really cool accomplishment, but I always want more.”
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The achievement is impressive on its own, but add in the speed that Harper did it, and he’s suddenly in some truly elite company. He’s the only active player to reach 1k hits, walks, and RBI all before the age of 33.
Of the other 13 players, 11 are already in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Albert Pujols is practically a lock to head to Cooperstown as well. The final member of that group is Barry Bonds.
If that’s not a testament to Harper’s future HOF chances…
“It’s great,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after the game. “That list that he’s on, there’s some pretty heavy names on there. It’s quite a group that he’s a part of. Just goes to show how great of a hitter he’s been.”
With the moment now behind him, Harper has to look forward and work on continuing his recent turnaround at the plate. After a rough stretch in late April, Bryce is slashing .320/.433/.520 in his past seven games.
It’ll take some time to get his season numbers back to where they normally are, but the surge is a great sign for the Phillies and their star.
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