Bryce Harper wins NL Player of the Month Award

By Mark Zuckerman

Nationals

May 02, 2016, 11:15am

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KANSAS CITY - Bryce Harper was named National League Player of the Month for April this afternoon, further confirmation of the reigning league MVP's torrid start to the 2016 season.

Harper hit .286 with nine homers, 24 RBIs, five stolen bases and a 1.120 OPS in 23 game for the month, which the 23-year-old actually ended in a 1-for-13 slump. He was hitting .328 with a 1.274 OPS as recently as April 26 before falling into his current skid (which included an 0-for-11 weekend in St. Louis).

Harper's production came at important moments for the Nationals, contributing to the club's 16-7 record in April. Six of his RBIs gave his team the lead, while three were game winners.

Bryce Harper set bat white.jpg

The young slugger also recorded the first two grand slams of his career during the month, the first of which also happened to be his 100th overall home run, making him the eighth-youngest player in major league history to reach that milestone.

This is the second NL Player of the Month Award for Harper, who also was honored last May. It's the 10th monthly award won by a member of the Nationals since 2005, with Harper joining fellow two-time winners Jayson Werth (July 2013, July 2014) and Max Scherzer (May and June 2015), Chad Cordero (June 2005), Stephen Strasburg (April 2012), Gio Gonzalez (May 2012) and Jordan Zimmermann (July 2012).