Bryce Harper hit one of six home runs for the Nationals last night in an 8-3 victory over the Mariners. In doing so, he joined some impressive company.
Harper is just the 15th player in MLB history to reach 50 career home runs before their age-22 season. It took him 331 games to get there.
Via Baseball Reference, he’s the full list, which includes two other active players:
Mel Ott - 86
Tony Conigliaro - 84
Eddie Matthews - 72
Frank Robinson - 67
Alex Rodriguez - 64
Mike Trout - 62
Ken Griffey, Jr. - 60
Al Kaline - 59
Mickey Mantle - 57
Giancarlo Stanton - 56
Bob Horner - 56
Andruw Jones - 54
Ted Williams - 54
Orlando Cepeda - 52
Bryce Harper - 50
Such a disappointment, that Harper. In all seriousness, imagine how high he’d be on that list if it wasn’t for the injuries over the past two seasons. He’d be near the top, most likely, if not the highest. Still, he’s off to a pretty good start and has plenty of time to meet those lofty expectations.