Who doesn't want to see 'The Showman' in All-Star Game?

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Think back to Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS, when Bryce Harper launched that epic home run against the Padres at Citizens Bank Park, sending the Phillies to the World Series for the first time since 2009.

“The superstar came,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said that night.

“We’ve always called him The Showman,” Phillies ace Zack Wheeler said.

Harper’s postseason heroics came to mind this week when he became a finalist to make the NL All-Star team. He finished second among NL designated hitters in Phase 1 of voting behind the Dodgers’ J.D. Martinez. Phase 2 of voting begins at noon ET on Monday and runs until noon ET on Thursday at mlb.com/vote. The winner will be elected an NL All-Star starter.

Fans can vote once per day during Phase 2, with the daily voting limit resetting daily at midnight. Winners will be announced at 7 p.m. ET Thursday on ESPN.

Harper is looking for his eighth All-Star appearance, and his seventh time as a starter. Martinez this season has better power numbers than Harper, who missed the first month following Tommy John surgery, but a strong case can be made for Harper.

Let’s start here: Major League Baseball needs its biggest stars at the All-Star Game, and almost nobody is bigger than Harper.

Q Scores’ most recent report in Feb. 2023 indicates that Harper is baseball’s fourth-most recognized active player among the general population six and older at 23 percent, just behind Aaron Judge (29 percent), Mike Trout (24 percent) and Justin Verlander (24 percent). Shohei Ohtani is at 17 percent.

Harper’s Q Score is 11 percent, which is behind Ohtani (21 percent), Trout (18 percent), Judge (17 percent) and Verlander (14 percent). The Q Score is defined as the percent of people rating the player as “one of my favorites” among those people familiar with him.

In other words, people know Harper and they love to watch him play.

But it isn’t like Harper hasn’t produced this year. Harper and Martinez entered Saturday with 0.7 WAR and 0.6 WAR, respectively, according to Baseball Reference. FanGraphs, meanwhile, has Harper with 0.7 WAR and Martinez at 0.8 WAR

Effectively, they have been equally as impactful.

Harper, entering Saturday:

PA: 191
BA: .296
OBP: .393
SLG: .414
HR: 3
RBI: 17
SB: 5
OPS: .806

Martinez, entering Saturday:

PA: 251
BA: .257
OBP: .299
SLG: .565
HR: 16
RBI: 48
SB: 0
OPS: .864

But who do baseball fans want to see in the starting lineup next month in Seattle? Hands down, they want to see The Showman.