Fansided

Picking an All-Decade MLB team for the 2010s

By Joshua Sadlock

TORONTO, ON - JUNE 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bats in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 17, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JUNE 17: Mike Trout #27 of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim bats in the fourth inning during MLB game action against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on June 17, 2019 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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PHILADELPHIA, PA – JULY 16: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies in action against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a baseball game at Citizens Bank Park on July 16, 2019 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

Outfield: Bryce Harper

There has been no bigger lightning rod in baseball over the last decade than Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper. Harper has been hyped immensely since his teenage days as a magazine cover boy. None of the hype died down after he went number-one overall to the Washington Nationals in 2010 and made his MLB debut at the age of 19 in 2012.

Harper has now played eight full seasons in the big leagues, and his career has been marked by tremendous highs, inexplicable lows and plenty of controversial moments, no doubt fueled by the media hot-take artists and the play-the-game-the-right-way crowd. The 27-year-old star is still on track to wind up in Cooperstown, but his career may somehow always leave his critics wanting more.

In eight years, Harper is a .276/.385/.512 hitter with 219 home runs and 635 RBI. He was one of the youngest MVPs in MLB history in 2015, his age-22 season, after hitting .330/.460/.649 with 42 home runs, 99 RBI and 124 walks. Harper has struggled to repeat that season, however, hitting just .265/.386/.507 over the next four seasons and hitting under .250 with a slugging percentage under .500 in two of those seasons.

Despite his inconsistencies, Harper was able to land a fully guaranteed 13-year, $330-million contract with the Phillies. He hit 35 home runs and drove in 114 runs in his first season with his new team. It was an up-and-down first year in Philadelphia, but Harper still has plenty of time to firm up his legacy and win a title.

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