Rest Easy, The Good Bryce Harper is Back

I think we were all worried back there that the 2015 season was a fluke for Bryce Harper.

Because yes, Harper's a fantastic athlete, and he's had some great years, but so far, his underperforming years outweigh his over performing years 3 to 2. You can only really talk about his stuff in 2012 and 2015, and he won awards both those years- there's not really a middle ground with him. It's not like Miguel Cabrera, who'll get MVP votes every year of his career for never especially having a bad season- Harper has had some down seasons.

The good news, however, is that 2017 is looking like a pretty nice season for Harper. And as one of the faces of baseball right now, and one of the best overall personalities in the game, it's about damn time he had another nice season.

It's semi-problematic, because I feel like this Nationals team has its ebbs and flows on even years, sort of like the Giants- they'll vie for a championship in even years, and struggle to stay afloat on the odd years. It's a pattern. This year, however, they have a stronger team than they've had in years, even in the years they've been going for the gold- Harper AND Zimmerman, the two centerpieces of the team since 2012, have been hitting. Anthony Rendon, Daniel Murphy, Adam Eaton and Matt Wieters are all killing it- even Adam Lind off the bench is having a nice year. Hell, even the pitching staff's been pretty solid, with nary a bad record on the starting rotation (Jeremy Guthrie notwithstanding, but we don't talk about him anymore).

So, if any year deserves a superior Bryce Harper performance, it is indeed this one. I just need all of this wonderfulness to last a long time, and without any substantial injuries (losing Trea Turner is bad enough).

Coming Tonight: Unless the rest of the box break blocks him, the patron saint of the still-slumping World Champions from two years ago.