Bryce Harper’s first half-season with the Phillies was highlighted by his effort and attitude | Bob Brookover

A half year down and 12½ to go for Bryce Harper in Philadelphia. The Phillies’ $330-million man will be analyzed over and over and over again the rest of this season, through the entire next decade and, if he’s not traded, through 2030 and 2031. The amount of time Harper still has here is every bit as outrageous as the amount of money he is making.

Some will judge him by the numbers, which have been good but not great through his first 81 games here. Others will base his value on the number of championships the Phillies win during his tenure.

Gabe Kapler was asked for his own evaluation of Harper at the halfway point Thursday.

“I’ve never seen a superstar play so hard,” the Phillies manager said after the Phillies completed a four-game sweep of the New York Mets. “I’ve never seen a superstar give as much as he gives on a daily basis. It’s not just on the field; it’s in the clubhouse as well. Selfless. Obviously he wants to perform, but he’s looking out for his teammates all the time. I’m his biggest fan, and I think his teammates are as well.”

It was an interesting answer for a number of reasons. Kapler can be the king of hyperbole sometimes, and his declaration about Harper’s intensity may have been exaggerated, but it was also based on validity.

Fangraphs.com and BaseballReference.com cannot tell me how hard every superstar in the history of baseball has played. It would be really cool if we could measure such things, but we can’t, so we use our eyes and make subjective decisions. Anyone who has watched Harper this season has to be impressed with the way he goes about his business on and off the field.

Yes, he has been aggressive to a fault sometimes as evidenced by the seven times he has been gunned down on the bases, but he was raised to take extra bases during his time with the Nationals, where players such as Jayson Werth and Anthony Rendon were exceptional at it. You’d much rather have a player make aggressive mistakes than passive ones because it creates energy in a dugout and a clubhouse.

Anyway, some of Harper’s baserunning mistakes have been counteracted by his ability to throw out baserunners from right field. He went into the Phillies’ weekend series with the Miami Marlins with five outfield assists, which was tied for fifth in the majors.

Some scouting reports described Harper as a liability in the field in recent seasons, but he has played right field extremely well through his first 81 games with the Phillies. According to FanGraphs’ advanced metrics, he has been the fourth-best defensive right fielder in baseball so far this season.

It was obvious from the start that Harper embraced his new baseball home by playing to the crowds in right field at both Citizens Bank Park and Nationals Park during the first week of the season. It was worth at least a million dollars to see hordes of Phillies fans back in the nation’s capital chanting, “We got Harper,” in early April.

Home and away, in fact, the theater has been better with Harper on the field because he is a lightning rod wherever he goes.

What’s not as visible to the average fan is the way Harper handles himself in the clubhouse. It’s not entirely visible to reporters, either, but there is at least a glimpse at how he interacts with his teammates, and Kapler is correct when he says that Harper is “selfless” and has the respect of everyone around him.

He handled a potentially tumultuous situation extremely well in late April after he was ejected in the fourth inning of a game against the Mets for arguing about the strike zone. Pitcher Jake Arrieta correctly criticized him for it because the Phillies cannot afford to lose Harper in the middle of a game. Harper immediately diffused the situation when he agreed with Arrieta after the game.

Harper’s team-first mentality went well beyond that, however. Whenever times were tough, he was at his locker ready and willing to field questions. Teammate Rhys Hoskins had to shoulder almost all of that responsibility last season in his first full year, and you can be sure he is happy to have a companion in that department this season.

As for the numbers, they have not been what we expected, and they will not be good enough to get Harper to a seventh all-star game this season. And still, he is tied for fourth in baseball with 23 doubles and eighth among big-league right fielders with a .363 on-base percentage and fourth in baseball with a .388 average when runners are in scoring position.

He also has a half season left to play and a dozen more with the Phillies after that. There will be plenty of time left to analyze Bryce Harper. But the fact that he has played so hard through his first 81 games in a Phillies uniform should be admired by a fan base that often claims to only demand that much.