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Bryce Harper's season for the ages

Maybe you're impressed with Bryce Harper's numbers. Maybe you're impressed with Harper's numbers because they're coming from a 22-year-old. Or maybe you're not that impressed with his numbers because you're in Bryce Harper fatigue and he's on pace for "only" 49 home runs and, heck, Brady Anderson and Greg Vaughn each hit 50 one time.

I'm here to tell you that you should absolutely be dazzled by what Harper is doing, and not just because he's putting up MVP numbers when most 22-year-olds are in Class A. Harper is having a season for all time, hitting .337/.465/.702 while leading the National League in runs, home runs, on-base percentage and slugging percentage. Some of the facts:

• His slugging percentage is .702. The last player to slug .700 was Barry Bonds in 2004. From 1994 to 2004, we had 12 seasons in which a player slugged .700, but the last player to do it before that pumped-up era was Ted Williams in 1957.

• His OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) is 1.167. That would be the highest since Bonds in 2004. We had 13 seasons with a 1.150 OPS or higher from 1994 to 2004, but the last player outside of that era with a higher OPS was, again, Williams in 1957.

• The only 22-year-old with a higher OPS was Williams in 1941, the year he hit .406.

• The last player 22 or younger to hit .335 was 20-year-old Alex Rodriguez in 1996, when he hit .358. Before that, we go all the way back to Vada Pinson in 1961 and Al Kaline in 1955, the only other post-World War II players so young to hit .335.

It's when we adjust for the offensive context of 2015 that Harper's season so far becomes even more impressive, without even factoring in his age.

• His OPS+ of 219 ranks 16th all time since 1901, with only guys named Bonds (four times), Ruth (six times), Williams (twice), Hornsby, Mantle and Gehrig (once each) ahead of him.

• His wRC+ of 215 ranks tied for 12th all time.

To put Harper's season in a similar context, the MLB average is 4.09 runs per game, about the same as 1988 (4.13) or 1989 (4.14). The OPS leader in 1988 was Wade Boggs at .965. The OPS leader in 1989 was Kevin Mitchell at 1.023. Harper easily trumps either of those figures.