5 reasons why Manny Machado is as good as Bryce Harper

5. Hitting

Harper won the NL MVP award in 2015 for one of the most dominant offensive seasons ever. Harper’s offensive output is almost impossible to match. However, since the beginning of last season, Machado has come impressively close.

Harper has 52 home runs to Machado’s 44 since the beginning of the 2015 season. Machado took a little while to develop that home run power — he had 51 doubles in 2013 and only 14 homers — but he now has one of the most powerful and efficient swings in baseball. Harper hit for average and power better than Machado last season, but Machado is outperforming Harper in both categories so far in 2016.

Harper has a better on base percentage, but the Orioles have done a better job forcing teams to pitch to Machado than the Nationals have done with Harper. In one less game this season, Machado already has 25 more at bats than Harper, and his 9.4 percent walk rate is quite good considering he is usually followed in the order by Adam Jones, Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo. Machado has also struck out only 15.4 percent of the time, while Harper has done so 20 percent of the time.

Harper is having another MVP-caliber season at the plate, but so is Machado. Among American League players, Machado trails only Jose Altuve in wRC+, which measures how much more productive a player is than the average player while batting and on the basepaths. His 191 wRC+ is better than Harper’s 151 wRC+. Those numbers are based only on the 30 games that have been played this season, but they reflect Machado’s steady improvement at the plate over the past few years. He might not be quite as dangerous at the plate at the reigning NL MVP, but he is getting close, and hitting is only one of his many talents.

Next: His Glove