The Question Now Becomes This — Will Bryce Harper Catch Up To Mike Trout?

With the way things have been going for the Anaheim Angels and Washington Nationals, we have no choice now but to acknowledge that something special is brewing in these two clubhouses even though (geographically speaking) they are polar opposites.

But they have some serious core similarities — by that I mean they both depend on superstars.

Now it’s obvious that having a really good player on your team isn’t a crime, but sometimes depending too much on that player can be like playing with fire — it’s cool for the moment, but could have some serious consequences.

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Bryce Harper (Washington) and Mike Trout (Anaheim) are no exception to that statement.

Heading into 2015, the Washington Nationals did a lot of work fixing up their pitching rotation and it was because of this that many analysts and experts felt they would be the front-runners to participate in and more than likely leave the season on a positive note and with a World Series to their name.

So far, that’s not been too far-fetched…yet.

Between the two of them, Mike Trout has had a bigger impact on how the Angels have treated their season. As expected, Anaheim has done pretty well thus far and the Nationals seem to be getting back on track but with baseball, as the Kansas City Royals proved pretty well in the playoffs, anything is possible.

And that includes good teams not doing so well.

For both the Angels and Nationals the faults have come when heroics are needed the most. The Angels got swept by the Royals (in epic fashion) and Washington was K.O.’d by none other than the eventual other side of the 2014 Word Series in San Francisco (3-1 series finish).

If either team had stepped up to the plate and been the ball club they so often were in the regular season the World Series, of all things, would have been completely different.

If only they realized how much power they have to rewrite history.

With Kansas City continuing its power trip in 2015 and the Giants still trying to find themselves this season, it is the perfect opportunity for the Angels and Nationals to get things going again and achieve all of the great things that baseball has waiting for them to take for their own.

But it starts at home.

Anaheim was annihilated at Angels Stadium against the Royals. Losing first in extra innings in dramatic fashion to open the series and then being dominated 4-1 in Game 2 and finished off 8-3 back in Kansas City was not how the Angels planned on using their time late in the year.

The Nationals also lost two big games at home — one of which also came in extra innings — and after that the air seemed to be completely taken out of what was supposed to be an extremely confident team heading into the playoffs.

Bottom Line: In Major League Baseball, it’s put up or shut up

What we are learning more and more is that gaining home field is not as important as actually protecting it, much like actions speak louder than words ever could.

But before either team starts talking bad about their opponents, they’ve got to start walking the walk.

Otherwise, it’s all uphill from here.