Bryce Harper, Nationals visit Reds this weekend

If the Reds had known how the season was going to go so far, they might've run ads with the following theme:

Come out and see Bryce Harper this weekend, and, yeah, the Reds will be playing, too.

The Reds haven't exactly been an enthralling team to watch over the last few weeks. Harper, who comes to town with the Washington Nationals on Friday night for the first of three, has been the show in baseball.

Harper is having a phenomenal year. He leads or is tied for the lead in the majors in home runs (18), RBI (43), runs (41), on-base percentage (.470), slugging (.745), on-base plus slugging (1.215) and walks (42).

He's surpassed his 2014 totals in runs, homers and RBI.

And he's 22 years old. That's younger than everyone but one player on the Reds' roster - and we're talking the 40-man roster, that is. That's younger than Chicago rookie sensation Kris Bryant.

Harper is the big reason the Nationals come in 28-19 and in first place in the National League East. They've won 18 of their last 23.

Harper, the first pick in the 2010 draft, has finally matched his potential with production.

"He's having a great year," said Todd Frazier, who finished third to Harper in 2012 Rookie of the Year voting. "I like when teams that are doing well come in. I talked to Freddie Benavides the other day. Some days you go into the game and you know who you're playing.

"You play for your team, but you try to find something to get you over the top. It's 'Hey man, I'm playing against one of the best players in the league. I'm going to try to beat him today.'

"There's no animosity toward him. He's a good dude. But you think, 'I'm in a battle today.' You build off that."

The Reds will take more time trying to figure out a way to stop Harper.

"There's no question," catcher Brayan Pena said. "You try to concentrate on everybody, especially a team like them. They're playing very, very well. It's one of those things where you have to focus on who's hot and who's not hot.

"You never take anyone for granted. Anything can happen. But a guy like him who can really hurt you gives more focus on how to pitch him and not get beat by him. Try to make someone else beat you."

Pena mentioned the same thing about Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Braun and Andrew McCutchen.

"They're superstars," he said. "They can turn the game around with one swing."