PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies won their seventh game in a row Friday night, and Bryce Harper continued a streak of his own in the 7-6 extra-inning victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

By drawing a walk in the first inning, Harper has now walked in 11 consecutive games, which MLB.com‘s Paul Casella noted is the longest streak by a Phillie since one of the other great right fielders in franchise history:

Harper’s first-inning walk gave him 26 in the month of August. That marks the most that Harper has ever walked in a month since joining the Phillies in 2019. He had previously worked 25 walks in both September of 2020 and September of 2021, winning NL MVP in the latter season.

Harper’s 26 walks in August are the most he’s worked in a month since September of 2018, when he walked, perhaps appropriately, 34 times during his final month as No. 34 on the Washington Nationals. In parts of 15 MLB seasons, Harper has had two other months where he’s cleared 30 walks: 31 in May of 2016 and a career-high 37 in April of 2018.

It’s hard to think Harper’s willingness to pass the baton in August isn’t directly related to the acquisition of Luis Arraez. In Spring Training, Harper set the very aspirational goal of walking 140-150 times. But the most walks he had in a month between April and July was 18 in June. He has 26 in August, with nine games left on the slate this month for the Phillies. That can’t just be a coincidence, right?

Harper has only homered three times this month with seven RBIs. It stands to reason that the Phillies are going to need more run production from Harper if they make it to the postseason. At the same time, Harper hit .172 with a .625 OPS in July, a month where he, controversially, acknowledged that the Phillies needed some more help. He’s responded well in his first month with more help, as he entered play Friday hitting .310 with a 1.035 OPS in August.

Arguably, Harper should have this approach every month — if teams aren’t going to give him pitches to hit, then just take the walks. But it’s much easier to do that when you have a three-time batting champion hitting behind you. Harper drew a walk in the first Friday, and then Arraez singled to advance him to third base. Granted, Alec Bohm ultimately flew out to strand Harper at third base, but for much of the season, he would have been hitting right behind Harper.

We’ll see how September — and the Phillies hope, October — play out, but the early returns for Arraez hitting behind Harper have been very good. That makes you wonder whether Arraez could be more than a rental. For that to happen, the Phillies would have to feel comfortable with the 29-year-old Arraez remaining at second base moving forward. Additionally, they would have to either keep Trea Turner at shortstop or move him to left field, leaving Stott, who has played much of his career at second base, to either play third base or shortstop moving forward. There’s a lot to consider.

Harper’s 92 walks lead baseball, though. It’s already 22 more walks than he drew last season in three more games, and the first time he’s walked 90+ times since his aforementioned 2021 MVP season. If this is how Harper performs with Arraez as his protection in the lineup, rearranging the infield — even with Harper coming back to first base in 2027 — might make some sense.

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