Mike Trout and Bryce Harper—in my opinion—are the two most talented position players in baseball. Beyond that, I think they are the two most marketable players in baseball. Trout (25) and Harper (24) are both on their way to Hall of Fame careers and could certainly be in the conversation for the best to ever play.
I'd like to write a few posts comparing the two over the course of the season, but today I want to focus on their respective starts to 2017. They have both started hot; Trout is 5th in fWAR and Harper is 18th. 50 plate appearances is a pretty solid sample, so let's see their overall numbers and project them over the average PA from each's first five MLB seasons.
Mike Trout
| Year | PA | HR | 2B | OBP/SLG | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 58 | 3 | 4 | .414/.633 | 1.2 |
| Projected | 685 | 35 | 47 | .414/.633 | 14.2 |
Bryce Harper
| Year | PA | HR | 2B | OBP/SLG | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 55 | 4 | 2 | .455/.644 | 0.7 |
| Projected | 554 | 40 | 20 | .455/.644 | 7.07 |
Those would be pretty solid seasons. I'll take the under for pretty much every category. Are Trout and Harper traditionally hot starters? Let's take a look at their numbers when they reached their current plate appearances.
Trout
| Year | Date | HR | 2B | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 5/14 | 2 | 5 | .344 | .491 |
| 2013 | 4/15 | 1 | 5 | .333 | .464 |
| 2014 | 4/14 | 4 | 2 | .356 | .593 |
| 2015 | 4/21 | 3 | 3 | .424 | .588 |
| 2016 | 4/19 | 1 | 3 | .333 | .340 |
Harper
| Year | Date | HR | 2B | OBP | SLG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 5/13 | 0 | 6 | .317 | .346 |
| 2013 | 4/17 | 5 | 2 | .417 | .673 |
| 2014 | 4/15 | 1 | 3 | .400 | .500 |
| 2015 | 4/19 | 4 | 1 | .411 | .556 |
| 2016 | 4/19 | 7 | 3 | .429 | .867 |
I forgot how good Harper was to start last year. Looking at these numbers, Trout is a traditionally slow starter, so you should be very excited for his overall numbers by the end of the year. Can he top his 10.8 WAR from 2012? Harper is driving the ball better well to the season, so we should be optimistic about him, too. Trout vs Harper should be fun this year.
