Bryce Harper, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Named 2021 Hank Aaron Award Winners

The MLB announced the winners of the 2021 Hank Aaron Award, which is given to the best offensive performer in each league.

Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper is the National League recipient, his second time achieving the honor in his career. The American League winner is Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Harper last won the award in 2015, becoming the 12th player ever to win multiple times. The 29-year-old had a .309 batting average in 2021, his first time batting over .300 since 2017. He led the majors with a .615 slugging percentage and a 1.044 OPS. In 141 games, Harper hit 35 home runs and a league-leading 42 doubles.

Harper helped lead the Phillies to its first season with a record above .500 since 2011. He upped his play down the stretch and slashed .330/.458/.736 with 19 homers, 21 doubles and 46 RBI in his final 58 games.

Harper beat out fellow NL finalists Freddie Freeman (Atlanta Braves), Nick Castellanos (Cincinnati Reds), Fernando Tatis Jr. (San Diego Padres), Brandon Crawford (San Francisco Giants), Paul Goldschmidt (St. Louis Cardinals) and Juan Soto (Washington Nationals) to win the award.

At 22 years old, Guerrero is one of the best young players in baseball and became the fourth-youngest player to win the Hank Aaron Award. He was tied with Kansas City Royals catcher Salvator Perez for the league-lead in home runs. Guerrero also led the AL with a .601 slugging percentage and 123 runs scored.

Guerrero won the award over AL finalists Perez, Cedric Mullins (Baltimore Orioles), José Ramírez (Cleveland), Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), Aaron Judge (New York Yankees) and Matt Olson (Oakland Athletics).

According to MLB.com, "the winners were chosen by a panel made up of Hall of Famers Johnny Bench, Craig Biggio, Ken Griffey Jr., Chipper Jones, Pedro Martinez, Eddie Murray, John Smoltz and Robin Yount and a fan vote."