Phillies star Bryce Harper reached a new milestone on Wednesday.
Phillies slugger Bryce Harper hit his 300th career home run, going deep Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels to become the 158th player in the League history to reach that mark after smashing his 300th career home run in the 10–8 loss in the finale of a three-game series against the Angels.
In the eighth inning, Harper blasted a pitch from Angels’ Matt Moore deep to right-center field.
The two-run drive in Harper’s 1,481st game put Philadelphia ahead 8-7.
The Angels rallied for three runs in the ninth en-route to a 10-8 victory.
Harper homered in three straight games for the second time this month and has ten homers in August.
Harper and Moore, the 224th pitched he has homered against, were 1-2 among Baseball America’s top prospects in 2012.
Bryce Harper celebrated after his 300th career home run, a two-run shot for his 15th homer of the season.
Bryce Harper’s 300th home run is a go-ahead shot in the 8th! pic.twitter.com/je68CQrSsK
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 30, 2023
“There are bigger numbers in my head, but 300 is pretty good,” Harper said. “I wanted to do it at home because I love being a Phillie. It’s something I’ve dreamed about. This city…I love them. I’m part of their family, and they’re part of mine as well. There’s just nothing like it.”
Harper, 30, has powered the Phillies to the top of the National League wild-card standings a year after he led them to the World Series.
Harper tied Chuck Klein on the career list with No. 300.
He hit his first career homer on May 14, 2012, with Washington.
Harper hit 184 homers in seven years with the Nationals and won the 2015 NL MVP before he signed a free-agent deal with the Phillies ahead of the 2019 season.
Harper, who signed a 13-year, $330-million contract, has 116 homers with the Phillies, won his second MVP award in 2021, and was NLCS MVP last season.
“There’ve been a lot of great people who have come in and out of this clubhouse who have helped me in my career,” Harper said. “I value playing every day.”
“I value going out there and working and grinding each day. I love this game. I love playing with ‘Phillies’ across my chest and I love playing this game every day. It’s all I want to do.”
Harper is the 12th active player to reach 300.
Tigers’ slugger Miguel Cabrera tops the list at 510.
Harper led the league with 42 homers with Washington in 2015 and hit at least 30- three other times.
Harper’s two-run blast in the eighth inning of a Game 5 win against San Diego in last season’s NLCS that sent the Phillies into the World Series is on the short list of great moments in Philly sports history.
He returned to the lineup this season in May, just 160 days after surgery on his right elbow.
The recovery from the injury forced him this season to move from right field to designated hitter and first base and cost him his power early.
Harper and the Phillies found their groove in August.
The Phillies entered the game with 57 homers in August, the third most for any team in the month in MLB history.
Harper became the fourth-youngest active player in baseball to reach 300 home runs and the 12th active player to secure the milestone, joining several greats.
Among those on the list are J.D. Martinez, Manny Machado, Freddie Freeman, Nolan Arenado, Paul Goldschmidt, Evan Longoria, Joey Votto, Mike Trout, Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Cabrera and Nelson Cruz.
Harper’s 15th home run this season also made him the fifth player in franchise history to hit 300 homers and the 158th player in MLB history to join the 300-home run club.
After rounding the bases at Citizens Bank Park, the 30-year-old received a standing ovation from fans.
August has been great for the seven-time All-Star, as he’s hit ten home runs this month alone.
The two-time National League MVP has also homered in three consecutive games for the second time this month.
Harper is hitting .308/.402/.503 with 114 hits, 25 doubles, one triple, 15 homers and 55 RBIs this season.
The Phillies (74–58) sit in second place and 13 games behind the first-place Braves (86–45) in the NL East.
Harper has never hit less than 13 homers in a season, and one of those years was in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 year.
