“Bryce Harper is ranked 58th in ESPN’s Top 100” was definitely not a headline I thought I would read this morning.

ESPN released their annual Top 100 MLB player rankings heading into the 2023 season and for whatever bizarre reason, Bryce Harper was not listed in the Top 50. Here’s what Jesse Rodgers (@JesseRodgersESPN) had to say about Bryce Harper in 2023, and why “it doesn’t take a baseball expert to understand why Harper is where he is on the list.”

Bryce Harper: #58

It doesn’t take a baseball expert to understand why Harper is where he is on the list, as he’ll be out more than half the season while recovering from Tommy John surgery. His return will certainly boost the Phillies’ chances, and he’ll undoubtedly continue as one of the most feared hitters in the game. But for the rankings, availability is as important as productivity, so for now, Harper is on the outside of the top 50 — though he easily could be in a different place going into next season.

Season prediction: Harper returns with a bang in late July but struggles to find his footing. He’ll be a .230 hitter while hitting 12 home runs in the second half. — Rogers (ESPN)

“It doesn’t take a baseball expert”…yeah, obviously.

Yes, everyone and their mothers knows that Bryce Harper will miss the start of the 2023 season as he continues down the road to recovery from surgery. However, just this week, we received news that Harper wouldn’t even be heading to the 60-Day Injured List.

Rodgers is all over the place with his reasoning and honestly, I’m not sure where to begin so let’s try to break this down as simple as possible so the “non-baseball experts” can understand.

Rodgers begins while saying that Harper is one of the most feared hitters in the game and then ends with a prediction that Bryce will return in “late July” and will “struggle to find his footing” while hitting just .230 with 12 home runs in the second half of the season.

Obviously, anyone with half of a brain can read a calendar and realize that Bryce Harper will be returning to the Phillies lineup well before “late July” and when healthy, is easily a Top 3 MLB player at the plate. He also says Harper “returns with a bang” but struggles to find his footing. Which one is it?

Bryce Harper is the best hitter in baseball. Everyone knows he’s missing the first two months of the season, but no matter the injury, clearly ignoring his production from 2022 is an insane move, but not surprising coming from a national media outlet.

The Phillies had six players in ESPN’s Top 100, with Trea Turner clocking in at #8.

• #8 Trea Turner
• #21 JT Realmuto
• #26 Aaron Nola
• #33 Zack Wheeler
• #58 Bryce Harper
• #81 Kyle Schwarber (lol)

Trea Turner at eight is a joke as well. Trea Turner is a Top 5 all-around player in baseball, and he showed it on the biggest stage the last two weeks, carrying Team USA all the way to the Final vs. Japan.

Oh and Kyle Schwarber, the National league HR leader for ’22 clocks in at 81, which is also a joke.

Here’s the link to the full article if you want to go look at these rankings, but save yourself the click and take my advice.

It’s not good.

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