2012 season: NL Rookie of the Year
The Nationals promoted Harper to the major leagues on April 27, 2012, after Ryan Zimmerman was placed on the disabled list. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals the next day against the Los Angeles Dodgers.[28] Harper grounded out to pitcher Chad Billingsley in his first major league at-bat. He recorded his first major league hit, a double, in his third at-bat against Billingsley and got his first RBI on a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth against Javy Guerra.[29]
After being hit by a pitch by Cole Hamels in the first inning of a game against the Phillies on May 6, Harper eventually advanced to third, then stole home plate, becoming the first teenager to steal home plate since 1964.[30] Hamels later admitted that he intentionally hit Harper and was suspended for five games by MLB.[31] On May 14, Harper was 19 when he hit his first career Major League home run, connecting off of San Diego Padres pitcher Tim Stauffer.[32] He was the youngest player to homer in the major leagues since Adrián Beltré did in 1998.[33] He was named National League Rookie of the Month for May.[34]
Harper earned his first walkoff hit on June 5 with an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th inning against the New York Mets.[35]
During a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on June 12, Harper hit a deep home run to center field that struck an advertising banner adjacent to the restaurant in the second tier of seats at the Rogers Centre,[36] estimated to travel 438 feet.[37] After the game, a reporter asked if Harper would take advantage of Ontario's lower drinking age (19, versus 21 in the U.S.) by drinking a celebratory beer with his teammates. Harper replied, "I'm not going to answer that. That's a clown question, bro." The comment quickly developed into an Internet meme,[38] and the phrase itself repeated, in response to a question, by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.[39] Harper filed an application to trademark the phrase.[40]
Harper was named a candidate in the All-Star Final Vote, with the winner being added to the All-Star Game roster. Harper finished third behind David Freese and Michael Bourn. However, Bourn would make the roster after Ian Desmond sustained an injury and Harper would become the youngest position player (and third-youngest player, behind Dwight Gooden and Bob Feller) to ever make an All-Star roster[3] when it was announced Giancarlo Stanton would undergo knee surgery.[41] "I don't have words to explain it right now. It's exciting to go. I'm excited to get there and be around all the top guys in the country, of course, and the top guys in baseball. I'm going to take it all in and try to enjoy it with my family and just be as mellow and as calm as I can," Harper stated.[42] He went 0-for-1 with a strikeout and a walk.[43][44]
Harper struggled in the games following the All-Star break, hitting .176 with 26 strikeouts in his first 116 plate appearances in the second half of the season.[45] Manager Davey Johnson began to give Harper days off due to his poor play and visible on-field frustration.[46] Johnson said that Harper had become "overly aggressive" at the plate.[47]
Harper's play began to improve in late August. He hit two home runs in a game against the Miami Marlins on August 29, his first career multi-homer game, and received his first major league ejection after throwing his helmet down in the ninth inning in response to hitting into a double play.[48] He had a second multi-homer game on September 5, against the Chicago Cubs.[47] Harper was named Rookie of the Month again in September after hitting .330 with seven home runs.[34] Harper's 254 total bases and 57 extra base hits were the most ever for a player under age 20, while his 22 home runs, 98 runs scored, .340 on-base percentage, .477 slugging percentage, and .817 on base-plus-slugging were the best regular season totals for a teenager in the past 45 years.[49]
In Game 5 of the 2012 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals, Harper hit his first postseason home run. The Nationals would eventually lose the game 7–9 despite leading by 6 runs. He finished his first postseason appearance with a .130 batting average.[50]
Harper was named the National League Rookie of the Year. He received 112 votes, 16 of them first-place votes, beating Arizona's Wade Miley (105 votes, 12 first-place) and Cincinnati's Todd Frazier.[51]
Card comes from a smoke free home!