Nationals' Bryce Harper has as many home runs as the Marlins and Rays combined

Bryce Harper is good at baseball, and the Marlins and Rays are not

Know who's good at baseball? Nationals thunderclap and free agent-to-be Bryce Harper, that's who. Consider his 2018 bestowals to date:  

That's a robust batting line, to be sure. Harper presently leads the majors in slugging and leads the NL in OPS+. Oh, and he also paces the bigs with, as you can see, five home runs. 

Speaking of five home runs, let's talk about the Miami Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays, who lost on Saturday by a combined score of 30-4. Those are of course two major-league teams from the state of Florida, where sometimes babies get DUIs. Those two franchises have also been stripped for parts and left on cinder blocks in the front yard -- the front yard of a house in which a baby who got a DUI lives. 

Anyhow, the Marlins and Rays have, like Harper, played eight games. With that symmetry noted, please consider the following numbers: 

• Marlins' home runs in 2018: Two (2)
• Rays' home runs in 2018: Three (3)

The Rays and Marlins lost on Saturday by a combined score of 30-4. That's notable, but that isn't the combined effort we're talking about. What we're talking about is the fact that the Marlins and Rays -- two entire teams -- have teamed up for as many 2018 home runs as Harper has hit all by his lonesome. Harper has hit his five home runs in 24 at-bats. The Marlins and Rays have hit their five home runs in 566 at-bats. (It should be noted that the Royals and Tigers have also managed just two home runs apiece on the season, but at this writing they've played just six and seven games, respectively.)

In a sense, this shouldn't be surprising. The Marlins parted ways with a starting outfield that in 2017 hit 114 bombs. The Rays, meantime, bid adieu to Logan Morrison, Evan Longoria, Corey Dickerson, and Steven Souza, who teamed up for 115 homers. That power hasn't really been replaced. 

While it's folly to talk about paces this early in the season, let us nonetheless note that the Marlins are on pace for ... 41 home runs in 2018. That won't hold up -- surely that won't hold up -- but if it does, it'll be the lowest team total in a non-strike-shortened season since the 1948 Washington Senators hit 31. It would be the lowest tally ever for a team playing 162 games in the regular season. What's particularly "impressive" is that we're in the midst of the most homer-friendly era in baseball history. Bryce Harper seems to get that, but not so for all of Florida. 

Speaking of Florida, the Marlins and Rays lost on Saturday by a combined score of 30-4.