Bryce Harper has been a lot of things in his career. 

Number one pick.
Rookie of the Year.
All-Star.
MVP.
NLCS MVP. 

One thing Harper typically hasn’t been is overshadowed. But that’s been the case this weekend at Citizens Bank Park. 

Harper has three home runs in the first two games of this series against the Angels. 

But Kyle Schwarber, fresh off his All-Star Game heroics, has been the headliner. Schwarber homered on his first swing of Friday’s series opener and provided a game-changing grand slam on Saturday. 

Meanwhile Harper has quietly gone about his business — a .500 batting average and 11 extra base hits (four home runs and seven doubles) in his last six games. His season numbers are on the rise. He’s hitting .272 with 13 home runs, 41 RBI and a .881 OPS.

“Just got to keep it rolling,” Harper said following Saturday’s 9-5 win. “Just hitting the pitches over the zone and letting the ones that aren’t go by. Doing damage on any pitches in the zone that I can. Just trying to simplify and stay right there.”

Schwarber appreciates the protection that Harper is providing for him in the lineup. 

“He’s having great quality at-bats right now,” Schwarber said. “When that guy steps to the plate you just always feel like he’s going to do something dangerous, special, whatever it is. The way he’s swinging the bat right now, that’s prime Bryce. And when you can get on base ahead of him or if I don’t do a job, if I’m hitting in front of him, you have all the confidence in the world that he’s going to get it done.”

Harper has repeatedly referred to himself as one of the best players in baseball during this hot streak. 

He gets no argument from his manager.

“He is one of the best players in the game,” Rob Thomson said Sunday morning. “So he’s telling the truth.” 

Castellanos chipping in

Nick Castellanos’ contributions to Saturday’s victory were lost in the shuffle. He made a sliding catch with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth inning to bail Taijuan Walker out of further trouble.

What was a 3-1 Angels lead at the time could have easily been 5-1 or 6-1 if Castellanos fails to make that play.

He also went 2-for-5 at the plate and collected his 900th career RBI on a first-inning single. Castellanos is just the 15th active player to reach the 900 RBI milestone.

“900 RBI is nothing to laugh at,” Thomson said. “It’s really impressive. It’s a really good career.”

Castellanos is hitting .273 with a .751 OPS in 97 games this season. His 101 hits are second on the team behind Trea Turner. His 52 RBI trail only Kyle Schwarber.

“Nick, as we all know, is a little bit streaky,” Thomson said. “But when he gets hot, he gets really hot. And when he’s using right center field as his target, he’s really good. I think he’s done a much better job this year controlling the strike zone.”