The NLCS Comes Down to Bryce Harper and Manny Machado

SAN DIEGO — At age 17, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado shared a bunk bed at a dorm in Barquisimeto, Venezuela. Teammates then on the USA 18U national team, this week they are opponents fighting for same prize: a spot in the World Series.

In the 13 years in between, Harper and Machado have moved in near lockstep building prolific, Cooperstown-tracking careers. Each was drafted in 2010 with one of the first three picks. Each reached the big leagues at such a young age they had to grow out of their immaturity in front of cameras and critics. Each reached free agency at the same time. Each signed for $300 million or more with a losing team trying to end a championship drought. Each chose a city on the opposite coast of their homes.

Each is the center of gravity for their franchise.

The National League Championship Series is more than Harper’s Phillies vs. Machado’s Padres. It is a battle of two baseball-mad cities starved for a championship, filling exquisite modern ballparks with thunder and passion normally found in college football stadiums twice as large. It is a battle of workhorse starting pitchers who don’t dare gladly hand the ball to the manager as the lineup turns over a third time.

It is a battle of brothers (Aaron and Austin Nola), of baseball lifers (Phillies manager Rob Thomson got his first big league managing gig after 37 years in the game; Padres manager Bob Melvin has managed more games without winning a pennant than all but three managers in history), and of executives who boldly pursue stars because they dare value present wins over future wins (Dave Dombrowski of the Phillies and A.J. Preller of the Padres).

It is the first LCS in which neither team won 90 games. That distinction only heightened their desperation to get into the postseason. Five wins later, both believe they cannot be stopped. Between them, they wiped out the top four NL seeds, the Dodgers, Braves, Cardinals and Mets, making this the first NLCS in 12 years without one of those four franchises.

But let’s get real. The marquee for this NLCS has only two names at the top: Harper and Machado.

Or is it Machado and Harper?

Take your pick. They have been on parallel tracks even before they played in those Pan Am Junior World Championships.

They are among the first of the postmodern superstars who came of age in the travel ball era, where even as youths they competed not against the best kids from the next town or county but the best the country had to offer. And they did it 12 months out of the year, flying to tournaments as a hired gun. Harper reminisced Monday about four years playing for the San Diego Stars, shipping off from Las Vegas to Southern Cal to find the best competition, starting at age 10. He was teammates there with Joe Musgrove, the Padres’ Game 3 starter.

“I played against him in a tournament in Chino Hills,” says Blake Snell, San Diego’s Game 2 starter who grew up in Washington. “We were 10 years old, and everybody knew who he was. His father, Ron, was an ironworker and he was jacked, and I remember kids saying about Bryce, ‘He’s in the cage every day with his father.’ Well, yeah, and he’s super talented.

“I played center field and corner outfield when I didn’t pitch. I wasn’t our best pitcher. We had this one kid who nobody touched. He threw gas. Nobody ever hit him. He pitched the semifinals and the championship. We played against Bryce in the championship. He hit three bombs off our guy. I mean three pull monster home runs. I mean, he was that good. He was head and shoulders better than everybody else.”

Harper was already on the cover of Sports Illustrated by the time he was playing in the Pan Am Juniors. I watched him play in high school while reporting that story. He hit a line drive that prompted the second baseman to jump—and the ball did not stop until it hit the right-field fence. His bat speed was ferocious. At 16 it was elite bat speed for a big leaguer.

The Nationals took him with the first pick in 2010. The Pirates, picking next, chose Texas high school pitcher Jameson Taillon over Machado, leaving the talented shortstop from Hialeah, Fla. for the Orioles. Harper and Machado played most of their early careers only 40 miles apart.

Amid all the attention on Harper, the haters came out. He was ripped for blowing a kiss at a minor league pitcher after a home run off him. What they didn’t know is that the other team had been riding Harper all night, calling him overrated, and worse. Harper dealt with the jealousy and expectations everywhere he went.

Machado had his own bouts of infamy. He threw his bat. His baserunning drew criticism for crossing the line over to dirty.

Both hit the free agent market at 26. Harper already had been a unanimous Rookie of the Year and an MVP. Machado had finished three times in the top 10 in MVP voting. The Phillies had both on their radar. They brought Machado to Citizens Bank Ballpark for a visit one day in December 2018. As Machado stepped out of his chauffeured SUV, with a phalanx of news cameras on hand, an electrician on lunch break shouted at him, “Super Bowl champs! World Series here! Do the right thing and sign. Get the money!”

Two of the best players of this generation went unsigned for months. Machado finally signed with the Padres in February: 10 years, $300 million. Harper signed 10 days later with the Phillies: 13 years, $330 million. The Padres were sitting on eight straight losing seasons, the Phillies on six straight. Those 10 days are when the ocean liners began to turn around.

“My first spring training I can remember I said it’s going to take us four, five years to get us where we want to be,” Harper said. “It could take longer than that. Our farm system was kind of depleted at the time.”

The Phillies hurried the rebuild with investments in J.T. Realmuto and Zack Wheeler, just as the Padres did around Machado with acquisitions of Musgrove, Snell, Yu Darvish, Juan Soto and Josh Hader. These are now star-studded teams. They are a fan’s dream: teams driven by the thirst to win, not to brag about how many prospects they have on the latest top 100 list.

“It’s been very easy for me to kind of just be Bryce because I don’t need to be anything else than myself, because of the guys that I have around me and the family that we do have in that clubhouse,” Harper said.

Said Machado, “Where are we at, NLCS? I think it worked out pretty good, right? This has been the vision all along. I think going back to the meeting when I sat down with A.J. and he convinced me to come over here, I saw the vision. I saw what he had and what this organization meant.”

One of them is going to the World Series. Harper has never been there. He just turned 30 on Sunday and for the first time will be playing in a major league game past his birthday in the same calendar year. Machado played in the 2018 World Series as a rental with the Dodgers. He hit .182 in the loss to Boston.

They have been connected for so long and so closely, but in these many ways the bottom line here is what matters most:

“Manny is a great talent,” Harper said. “He’s one of the best defenders in the game. He can swing the bat very well. He’s having a great year this year. I’m excited to be able to share the field with him. I think he’s an incredible ballplayer, and I look forward to seeing this series and how it goes.”

Said Machado, “He went to a city that wanted to bring a championship back, and I went to a city that’s never won a championship. Here we are a couple years later, we’ve done that, two organizations, and we’ve helped the organizations out big time.

“It’s going to be fun. He brings an energy. He’s one of the best players in the game. I think, honestly, we’ve got the two best teams going up against each other, and it’s going to be a fun week for sure.”

Back in Barquisimeto, Harper and Machado led the U.S. to an 8–0 record, including a win over Cuba in the final. Taillon was the winning pitcher in the clincher. Kevin Gausman closed it. They outscored opponents, 99–14.

Three USA players made the all-tournament team: Harper, Machado and Brian Ragira. For the record, Harper took the top bunk, Machado the bottom. Together the 17-year-old roommates have signed contracts worth a combined $712 million.

When it comes to this NLCS, you can dive into the numbers all you want. You can think Robert Suárez and Josh Hader give San Diego an edge over the Philadelphia bullpen. You can believe the Padres have a better No. 3 starter in Musgrove over Ranger Suárez. You can believe Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola starting on full rest four times in the first six games gives the Phillies the edge. Truth is, if you watched the Division Series at all, you know these micro-examinations mean nothing when the first pitch is thrown and humans react to both the pressure and joy of the moment under the brightest of lights.

You should simply enjoy the names at the top of the marquee on this show that will run for four nights if we are unlucky and seven if we hit the jackpot.

This is Cody Bellinger and Christian Yelich in the 2018 NLCS. It’s Mark Grace and Will Clark in 1989. It’s Willie Stargell and Johnny Bench in ’70.

Harper and Machado.

Machado and Harper.

The winner is going to the World Series.

More MLB Coverage:
• Padres Expose Dodgers’ Flaws in Stunning Series Win
• Bryce Harper Doesn’t Want Your Praise. But He Needs Your Doubt.
• ‘It Feels Like Failure’: The Braves’ Promising Season Is Over
• The Yankees Will Need a New Manager Next Season