Move over, Bryce Harper

The crown no longer belongs to Bryce Harper.

From the minute Harper arrived to the Phillies, he was the best hitter on the team. That was non-negotiable. Even when Rhys Hoskins or J.T. Realmuto or Andrew McCutchen or Trea Turner hit well around him, Harper was the straw that stirred the drink for this Phillies lineup.

That has changed.

The mantle now belongs to Kyle Schwarber, and it really hit me last night as the Phillies DH slugged his 12th home run of the season in a nice win over the Rays.

Here’s a look at the pedestal Harper was on, and how Schwarber has taken it over the last calendar year. If your first instinct while reading the first few lines of this post was “this seems over reactionary!," you may think otherwise after seeing these numbers.