Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper was named the National League Player of the Month for June, after he hit .374 with seven home runs, 10 doubles, 16 RBIs and a 1.166 OPS this past month.
For Harper, it’s the second consecutive month that he’s taken home the honor as the top player in the senior circuit. In May, Harper hit .313 with seven home runs and a .990 OPS. Clearly, he was even better in June, which he needed to be to edge out Los Angeles Dodgers DH Shohei Ohtani, who clubbed 12 home runs in the month.
What’s interesting is not only did Harper repeat as NL Player of the Month, but New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge took won the award in the American League for the second time in as many months as well. For as great as Harper was in June, Judge was even better, hitting .409 with 11 home runs and a 1.378 OPS.
According to James Smyth of YES Network, “this is the first time that the AL & NL winners repeated in the next month together” since the Player of the Month Awards were first given out in 1974.
Not surprisingly, Harper and Judge each received the most All-Star Game votes of any player in their respective leagues, which means both automatically earned starting spots in the midsummer classic. It’s not yet clear if Harper — currently on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain — will play in the All-Star Game on July 16, though it seems he could return to the lineup for the Phillies sooner than that.
Even if Harper isn’t back in time for the All-Star Game, barring a major setback, he’ll be in the lineup when the Phillies welcome Judge and the Yankees to Citizens Bank Park from July 29-31, in what will no doubt be billed as a possible World Series preview. The series may also feature the players that end up winning the NL and AL MVP as well.
Meanwhile, Harper wasn’t the only player on the Phillies who took home an honor for his June performance, as Cristopher Sánchez was named the NL Pitcher of the Month.
Sánchez is coming off the finest month of his career, as the lefty went 3-0 with a 1.64 ERA across five starts. The Phillies and Sánchez agreed to a four-year/$22.5 million contract that includes club options for the 2029 and 2030 seasons on June 22. The lefty capped off what may have been the greatest month of his life by striking out nine and allowing just three hits in a complete-game shutout against the Marlins on June 28.
Following his performance in June, there’s a very real chance that Sánchez — who, according to FanGraphs, leads all NL pitchers in WAR at 3.1 — joins Harper and Judge at the All-Star Game.
