The National League's reigning Most Valuable Player, Bryce Harper, hasn't quite been the same player this season as he was in 2015. After Harper hit .330 with a .460 on-base percentage and 42 home runs, Harper's performance has drastically dropped in 2016. While it has been one of this seasons biggest mysteries, Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci reported on Friday that Harper has playing through a right shoulder injury for the past two months.
While the report was denied by Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo, it's hard not to consider Verducci's news from a source in the Nationals. A quick look at Strasburg's numbers this season compared to last, though more specifically the past two months, indicate that last year's MVP is either in a massive slump, injured or not the player we thought he was.
Consider that in 2015, Harper registered a 197 wRC+, .461 wOBA and .319 isolated power. In addition to his defense in right field, he was a 9.5 WAR player by FanGraphs scale. This season, he holds just a 2.8 WAR with a 112 wRC+, .342 wOBA and a .205 isolated power, his hard-hit percentage has also dropped form 40.9 percent in 2015 to 32.2 percent this season.
Going off the two month timetable, we look at Harper's numbers from June until now and they are abysmal. In 237 at bats, Harper has a .226/.338/..362 triple-slash line with an 88 wRC+, .307 wOBA and a .136 ISO. He still has the same plate vision, demonstrated by a 16.5 strikeout percentage versus his 14.3 walk percentage, but these numbers just haven't been close to Harper's caliber of talent, they resemble a team's third outfielder.
If Harper's shoulder got progressively worse as he kept trying to play through the ailment, it might also explain how his numbers from July-August are even worse. Since July 1 , Harper has a .179/.299/.311 triple-slash line with a 63 wRC+, .270 wOBA and .132 isolated power, all while he is still walking in 14 percent of his plate appearances.
As of Friday, Harper has been out of the Nationals' lineup with a neck injury for almost a week. While it is only listed as a neck injury, Chelsea Jones of The Washington Post also reported on Friday that it's been a combination of the shoulder and neck that have kept Harper out of action.
Maybe Rizzo is right and shot down Verducci's report because Harper does not have a shoulder injury. But if he doesn't and the neck spasms have just been a short-term issue, then there are even more questions about Harper's decline this season, less than a year after he was unanimous MVP of the National League.