It’s been 12 years since Mike Trout and Bryce Harper won their Rookie of the Year awards. They’ve both had extremely successful careers, but they did not accomplish them in the same manner.
In 2012, at the MLB All-Star game in Kansas City, Mike Trout and Bryce Harper were two of the youngest all-stars ever. Harper was just 19 and Trout 20.
They had very different paths to the majors. Harper was a wunderkind, or as Sports Illustrated claimed, Baseball’s Chosen One, when he was on their cover in 2009. He was taken first overall in 2009 by the Nationals. Trout didn’t come with all the fanfare, though he was also a first rounder, selected 25th by the Angels, in the same draft class.
Trout had a brief stint in the majors in 2011, batting an unimpressive .220 over 135 plate appearances. His rookie season, however, was something else. He exploded for 30 home runs, stole 49 bases, and batted .326, while capturing the AL Rookie of the Year honors and finishing second in the MVP voting.
Harper was very good as a rookie, hitting .270 and 22 homers, and recording 18 stolen bases. While he finished first in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, he was 30th in the MVP tally.
This pattern continued through the next nine seasons. Trout was outstanding, otherworldly even. His production was putting him on the fast track to be one of the best ever. Harper on the other hand, was still excellent. He was putting up terrific numbers, even though he missed time here and there. He even won the NL MVP in 2015. In the same timeframe, though, Trout won three MVPs and finished second four other seasons.
Starting in 2021, however, things began to lean the other direction. Harper won his second MVP that season, while Trout has suffered one injury after another. Over the last three and a half seasons, Harper has 176 more games than Trout, more than making up for the extra time Harper missed to injuries prior to 2021. While Trout’s numbers are still slightly better overall, Harper has closed the gap.
How close is Bryce Harper to Mike Trout right now statistically?
Trout still leads in the categories that count the most, but Harper is quickly closing the gap. Considering how the baseball world considered Trout and his level of s𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 prior to 2021, it is amazing how much ground Harper has made up.
The one stat that stands out is Wins Above Replacement (WAR). Trout has a commanding lead there and that is because he had so many seasons when he was so completely dominating, while Harper was putting together solid, steady seasons.
Neither has had what one could call a healthy career. Even now as of this writing, both are on the injured list. However, neither is that old yet either. Trout turns 33 in August and Harper won’t turn 32 until after the regular season. They both could have two to three productive seasons left if they can maintain a certain level of health.
While Harper was probably unfairly saddled with labels like prodigy all of those years ago, he is still putting together a likely Hall of Fame career. No one could live up to the hype heaped on him as a teenager. Trout, as time has proven, was the better talent, and put together nine of the greatest seasons the game has ever seen.
In the end, though, their stats may not be that far apart. They will both find a place in Cooperstown, albeit by different paths. It would be nice to see each of them finish their careers on their own terms, and we should hope neither career is cut short because of injuries.
