Bryce Harper named National League Player of the Month

After busting out with an offensive assault throughout May, Bryce Harper was rewarded as the National League Player of the Month. The announcement was more a formality after Harper was earlier named Player of the Week in the NL in back-to-back weeks.

Over 26 games in May, Harper's binge included 13 homers, four doubles, a triple, 28 RBIs and 24 runs scored. He batted .360 with a .884 slugging percentage, the eighth-best mark in baseball history for the month.

Harper didn't crush his first home run until the sixth day of May, but then they came in bunches. It started with his first three-homer game of his career against the Marlins. Harper was bursting with so much confidence that he felt the curtain call the frenzied crowd at Nats Park gave him after the third bomb was premature.

"I didn't want to go up there because I wanted to get one more," Harper said after the 7-5 win on May 6. "I wish they would have waited because I think I got up too early. I went up there and said, 'thank you' for that. I wish they would have waited unless I would have got four."

Less than 24 hours later, the 22-year-old Harper blasted two more tape-measure shots, making him the youngest player in Major League Baseball history to hit five home runs in a two-game span and the first ever do it in the 47-year history of the Nationals/Expos franchise, according to Elias.

"Don't touch him," Gio Gonzalez about Harper after that 9-2 victory. "You might get third-degree burns. That guy is on fire. He's just fun to watch. He's unbelievable. A show-stopper. When he goes up to bat, everybody stops what they're doing, whether eating popcorn or hot dogs. He's out there pausing time. It's fun to watch."

His weekend bender wasn't finished either as Harper launched a dramatic walk-off homer to beat the Braves 8-6 and cap off the epic three-day stretch. Over the trio of games, Harper was 8-for-12 with six home runs and 12 RBIs.

"I don't even want to talk about mechanics," Harper said after the three-day feast. "I don't want to talk about anything, actually. I just want to go up there, try to have good ABs. Like I said, like I've been saying, that's the way I need to be. If I'm healthy, if I'm going the right way, that's what you're going to get out of me. That's just how I am."

For the season, Harper's 18 homers are tied with Seattle's Nelson Cruz for most in the majors. His 1.188 OPS is tops in the big leagues, and he is second in all of baseball in RBIs (44) and runs scored (43).

Harper joins Jayson Werth as the only Nationals non-pitcher to earn monthly honors. Werth was recognized in July 2013 and July 2014.