Is this Bryce Harper’s Final Home Run of 2013?

HR20

Though I thought he would finish with at least twice this many round-trippers this season, Bryce Harper has reached 20 home runs in his age 20 season. The Nationals beat the Marlins 3-2 tonight at Nationals Park in Washington, with Harper’s three-run home run in the first inning totaling their entire offensive output for the night.

The Nationals have been baseball’s best team over the last month, and although it looks to be too little too late, it’s going to be a small happy ending on the career of Davey Johnson. Harper has had a tough season, and there have been times when we thought he should have played that he didn’t. He’s still earned some respect by gutting it out for the most part this last month and playing out the string with some dignity for his team. His OPS sits at .892 as the night closes. That’s a pretty great sophomore season.

Harper’s shot came off Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez. The last time he hit a home run off Alvarez it landed off the BlackBerry sign in Toronto. With just over a week of regular season left, Harper looks to close a chapter on his career and begin a long winter of hopefully becoming baseball’s best player in 2014.