Bryce Harper on Dusty Baker, coaches: "We finally have an all-star staff"

With the Nationals playoff chances hanging by a thread and rumors swirling about Matt Williams' job security in mid-September, Bryce Harper was the lone player offering a vote of confidence for his now former skipper. Harper's award season continued Monday night when his peers recognized the young slugger as the National League's Outstanding Player of 2015.

After receiving the honor during the MLB Players Choice Awards special on the MLB Network, Harper couldn't mask his emotions when asked about the opportunity to play for new Nationals manager Dusty Baker, who was hired by Washington last Tuesday.

"I think you see that smile on my face," Harper said on MLB Network. "I'm definitely very excited to have him. Being able to play for a guy like Dusty, somebody that's been there, been around the game for a long, long time. Played for the Dodgers early. Being able to do the things with him, try to learn from him.

"Also, learning from a guy in Davey Lopes, one of the best first base coaches in the game and one of the best baserunning coaches in the game also. I'm very excited for that.

"And also (new pitching coach) Mike Maddux, being able to pick his brain about pitchers and seeing the tendencies the other pitchers throw with. I'm very excited to have the team that we do. We finally have an all-star staff and it's gonna be a lot of fun."

Harper's concluding comments seem to infer he wasn't too thrilled with the previous regime and probably the approach the team took in hiring Baker. Either way, Harper's maturity and commitment shows with his desire to work with Maddux on studying pitchers. He spent time doing the same with ace Max Scherzer last season, and that helped Harper develop into one of the game's most feared and disciplined hitters.

Harper's praise of Lopes echoed Baker's remarks from last Thursday's introductory press conference.

"He's as good a baserunning coach as there is that I've ever been around," Baker said of Lopes. "Several of our players have a real tie to him. He was a player favorite when we announced that. When we told the players about that, they were extremely happy."

Baker added: "We're going to run the bases. I think that's something that's probably last on the list on a lot of teams. baserunning is probably the most overlooked part of baseball."

Of course, baserunning is measured on more than just stolen bases, but the Nationals swiped only 57 bases in 2015, the second-lowest total in the NL and 44 less than the previous year. Injuries undoubtedly played a part, with Denard Span and Anthony Rendon spending chunks of the season of the disabled list. The two combined for just 12 steals last season after totaling 48 in 2014. Harper was successful in six of his 10 stolen base attempts last season. He had a career-high 18 steals in his 2012 rookie year.

Michael A. Taylor is coming off 16 stolen bases in his rookie season and figures to be a threat on the base paths for many years in a Nationals uniform. As does the speedy Trea Turner, who could find himself near the top of the Baker's lineup early in 2016.

A fresher, more active brand of baseball under Baker will be welcomed, especially considering about the only part of the Nationals offense that was aggressive in 2015 was Harper.

Harper has a chance of picking up some more hardware tonight when the Gold Glove Awards are announced at 7 p.m. on ESPN. Curtis Granderson of the Mets and Jason Heyward of the Cardinals are Harper's competition for the best defensive right fielder in the NL. Catcher Wilson Ramos is also up for a Gold Glove against the Giants' Buster Posey and the Cardinals' Yadier Molina. This is the first time Harper and Ramos have been recognized as finalists for the honor.

The Baseball Writers' Association of America is also expected to name Harper as a finalist for NL Most Valuable Player tonight at 6 p.m. on MLB Network. The winner will be revealed on Nov. 19 on MLB Network.