Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper is not just having a Most Valuable Player Award-caliber season, but also one of the best single seasons in franchise history.
Harper is among the Top 5 — behind two Hall of Famers — in the all-time Phillies single-season statistic for Adjusted On-base Plus Slugging Plus (OPS+). Through Tuesday’s game action against the Baltimore Orioles, the slugger’s 182 Adjusted OPS+ currently ranks fifth-best in franchise history during a season, trailing only Mike Schmidt (1981), 198 and Ed Delahanty (1896), 190; (1899), 189; and (1895), 186.
Fellow left-handed-hitting right-fielder Sam Thompson — the third Hall of Famer on this list — also logged a 182 Adjusted OPS+ in 1894, though comparing the Live Ball Era (post 1920) to early baseball is like comparing a horse-drawn carriage and a Tesla.