The whole overrated/underrated debate is tired. So tired. I’m sick of it and have been for a while. It really doesn’t mean anything, because there’s rarely an agreement on what the base rating is to begin with. Instead, it’s just a way for people to yell at each other on TV to fill time and get people worked up.

That said, I can’t help but think that Bryce Harper is underrated.

Yes, a guy who was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16 (so long ago that it was actually a thing to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated) as his sport’s LeBron James is underrated. So too is the wunderkind who was the no-doubt first pick in the draft when he could’ve been finishing up his junior year of high school and made his big-league debut at 19, in what could’ve been the final months of his second semester of his freshman year of college underrated.

While LeBron James, who was on the SI cover at 17, has lived up to the lofty expectations as arguably the greatest player of all time, Harper’s not in the conversation. In a way, he’s been overshadowed by a contemporary in Mike Trout. Harper is merely a no-doubt Hall of Famer after his career, not in the conversation with Mays, Aaron, Bonds and Ruth.

Baseball, of course, is different from basketball or football where rings are the things. Ted Williams didn’t have a ring, nor did Ken Griffey Jr. or Trout. They’re still in the pantheon of greats of the game.

That said, a ring could move Harper up in those talks. Harper’s greatness won’t be determined by what happens in the next two weeks; the guy is great regardless. But it could actually shine a light on just how great he has been in his career. When the Nationals won the World Series, it was framed as something they accomplished because Harper wasn’t there, and that isn’t fair. Good players are important. And Harper is a great player.

While it seems silly to say that Harper is underrated, if the rating is anything other than an all-time great in the game, it’s not silly in the least. One more win and Harper will once again be on the game’s largest stage with a chance to prove it.

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