Harper named National League Player of the Week

After an historically powerful week at the plate, Washington Nationals right fielder Bryce Harper was named the National League Player of the Week on Monday. Major League Baseball made the announcement on MLB Network. Harper, who is currently leading the National League in home runs (11) and is tied for the Major League lead in walks (27), hit .455 with a .520 on-base percentage and a 1.318 slugging percentage over last week's six-game stretch. He clubbed six home runs, drove in 13, doubled once and struck out only four times in 25 plate appearances. The Nationals went 5-1 in that span. Harper began his power surge on Wednesday, hitting three home runs in his first three at-bats, making him just the fourth Nationals (2005-present) player ever to hit three home runs in one game. He joined Alfonso Soriano (April 21, 2006 vs. ATL), Adam Dunn (July 7, 2010 vs. SDP) and Ryan Zimmerman (5/29/13 at BAL) on that list. But that was just the start of Harper's hot week. He followed Wednesday's performance up with a two-homer game on Friday, and a walk-off homer on Saturday (the third walk-off home run of his career), before going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI in the Nationals' sweep-clinching victory over Atlanta on Sunday. Harper had already made history with five home runs in the span of two games, becoming the youngest player in MLB history to do so, besting Mark McGwire (age 23, June 1987), and the first franchise player (Nationals/Expos) to accomplish that feat as well. But his six home runs and 12 RBI put him in even more elite company. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Harper is only the fifth player in MLB history to hit at least six home runs and drive in 12 or more runs over a span of three games during the near-century for which RBI have been officially compiled (1920-present). The only other players to do so were: Tony Lazzeri (1936), Ralph Kiner (1947), Manny Ramirez (1998) and Shawn Green (2002), but none of those players hit a walk-off home run during their three-game power trip. Harper, who is 10-for-16 with six home runs and 13 RBI in his last four games, also joined Vladimir Guerrero as the only player in franchise history to produce such gaudy totals in a four-game period. Guerrero, who once went 10-for-15 with six home runs and 14 RBI for the Expos, did it over two seasons, in the final three games of 1999 and the 2000 season opener. At 22, Harper's heroics also put him in elite company historically. The only other Major League players to hit at least three walk-off home runs at age 22 or younger are: Frank Robinson, Tommy Davis, Eddie Murray, Juan Gonzalez and Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman. He is also the 10th-youngest player in MLB history to hit three home runs in a game. This is the first Player of the Week award for Harper, who was twice named Rookie of the Month in 2012, and the 13th such honor for the Nationals organization. He joins Jordan Zimmermann (Sept. 22-28, 2014; June 2-8, 2014), Adam LaRoche (Sept. 1-7, 2014), Jayson Werth (June 30-July 6, 2014), Ryan Zimmerman (July 16-22, 2012; Aug. 15-21, 2011; July 30-Aug. 5, 2007), Stephen Strasburg (June 7-13, 2010), Josh Willingham (July 27-Aug. 2, 2009), Cristian Guzman (Aug. 25-31, 2008), and Nick Johnson (May 31-June 6, 2005) as honorees.