Jake Balek

Jake Balek

Sport Data Analyst

2023 NL Divisional Series MVP

1 minute read

Published:

The player of the week in the NLDS was Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies. Many would argue Nick Castellanos, but the confidence and momentum Bryce provided throughout proved to be too much for the Braves to handle.
After game 2 of the series, Orlando Arcia made comments about Harper being doubled up at first base to end the game. During game 3 with the series tied at one apiece, Harper hit 2 home runs and made sure to let Arcia know by staring him down and letting him hear it. After this, the Phillies never looked back with massive amounts of momentum playing behind a hostile home crowd and taking the series 3-1. Harper finished the series 6-13 at the plate with another 5 walks. He scored 5 times and added 5 RBI. Three of each of those came from a home run.

Illustration of Bryce Harper
This image of Bryce Harper staring down Orlando Arcia comes from the New York Post.

Spray Chart Action

Illustration of Bryce Harper's 2023 Regular Season Spray Chart
Illustration was created in R Studio using the baseballr package.

This chart constructed in R studio shows the spray of base hits Harper had during the entirety of the 2023 regular season. It shows that he likes to hit the ball to right field for power but can spray the ball to all areas of the park making it very hard to judge where he may hit the next.

Illustration of Bryce Harper's 2023 NLDS Spray Chart
Illustration was created in R Studio using the baseballr package.

This chart constructed in R studio shows the spray of batted balls in play from Harper during the NLDS. It shows how he worked deeper to the right side of the field and had lots of success driving the ball in this area.

Strike Zone & Batted Ball Display

Illustration of Bryce Harper's 2023 NLDS Batted Ball & Strike Zone Display Chart
Illustration was created in R Studio using custom ggplot2 measurements.

This chart shows the strike zone and pitches that Harper made contact with during the NLDS. Compared to the regular season, Harper does a great job staying strict with pitches he makes contact with. These being primarily balls lower in the zone where he can stay down on and do damage.

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