Quote:
Originally Posted by Shoeless Moe
The discussion is not on Harper's past performance. Yes has had a very good career. Stud. The question at hand is how does a hitter do after 2 TJ's.
So we are only looking at his current season. Batting Average is high which is very good, but the power looks to be zapped (12 HRs & 47 RBI).......but his bat recently came to life so maybe he'll be fine. Time will tell.
But 2 years now of less than Harper-like numbers, he's 30 and should be in his prime. 18 HR / 65 RBI last year and 12 HR / 47 RBI so far this year. Pretty ugly for a 3 or 4 hitter getting 26 Million per year.
He ranks 145th in HRs and 131st in RBIs this season.
Hopefully we'll get a full season out of him next year.
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I'm a little confused now. Harper hasn't had 2 Tommy John surgeries. He only played 99 games in 2022 mainly because he missed time with a broken thumb after getting hit by a pitch so his home runs and RBIs were down because he only had 370 ABs. Also, before the injury, he was having a solid season, but when he came back, he was pretty bad until getting hot in the playoffs.
I'm not aware of any hitters that have returned after 2 Tommy John surgeries so Ohtani may be there first to do it. However, since it is apparently possible to hit with a torn ligament that requires the surgery (like Harper last year and Ohtani currently), it would seem likely that Ohtani should be able to be an effective hitter eventually next year and beyond even if he doesn't pitch again.