Bryce Harper punches his ticket to Cooperstown at age 16

Post #1 » by **HMFFL** » Thu Jun 4, 2009 10:46 pm

I have no idea if there's a difference in pressure between having every baseball wonk following you around at age 16 and having every sports fan in the country learn your name, but I suppose Bryce Harper will soon be able to tell us.

Following in its grand tradition of predicting can't miss future superstars like Schea Cotton and Tamir Goodman, Sports Illustrated is using the cover of this week's magazine to tout the 16-year-old Las Vegas resident as "the most exciting prodigy since LeBron."

Writes SI's Tom Verducci:

"Still only 16, Harper stands 6'3", weighs 205 pounds, has faster bat speed than Mark McGwire in his prime and runs so fast that he scored on wild pitches six times this season from second base. As a catcher he picks off runners from his knees, and when he pitches, he throws a fastball that has been clocked at 96 mph.

"When James was 16, he was a high school sophomore with an NBA game and a body to match. Harper has been compared to Justin Upton(notes), Alex Rodriguez(notes) and Ken Griffey Jr.(notes), each a freakishly advanced high school player and each the top overall pick of his draft. But Harper, say the baseball men who are paid to make such assessments, has the ability as a sophomore that the aforementioned trio had as seniors." Link

Post #2 » by **Da Schwab** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 12:05 am

Juice.

I'm never the boy to cry 'steroids', but how can we really believe this in this day and age?

Post #3 » by **Celtics_Champs** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 5:21 am

6 times he scored from second on a passed ball? Tell me that is a misprint.

Post #4 » by **PhilipNelsonFan** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 7:14 am

^It probably isn't, but that's just because high school pitchers are not very good, for the most part.

And yes, I want to believe this kid is clean, but he won't have to worry about steroid testing until the moment the ink dries on his pro deal, so until then he can keep on juicing.

Drug-testing HS athletes looks better and better every day.

Post #5 » by **Da Schwab** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 7:42 am

PhilipNelsonFan wrote:Drug-testing HS athletes looks better and better every day.

They do it in Florida. The problem is that they only test 1% of the athletes in four sports (IIRC): football, wrestling, weightlifting and baseball.

Post #6 » by **studcrackers** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 4:16 pm

i believe i read he's going to get his GED this summer and go to JUCO so he can be in the 2010 draft

jumanji · Post #7 » by **jumanji** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 4:53 pm

If Harper does become eligible for the 2010 draft it looks like Washington will end up with him and Strasburg. They better just sell Scott Boras part ownership of the team.

Sashobe · Post #8 » by **Sashobe** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 5:48 pm

I live in Las Vegas and saw Bryce against Bishop Gorman.

This kid is a great player no doubt, but I am sure he is on roids. When he didn't like a call at first, he ran from right field to argue that call. He just doesn't seem like a professional ball player because of his childishness.

jumanji · Post #9 » by **jumanji** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 8:32 pm

Sashobe wrote:I live in Las Vegas and saw Bryce against Bishop Gorman.

This kid is a great player no doubt, but I am sure he is on roids. When he didn't like a call at first, he ran from right field to argue that call. He just doesn't seem like a professional ball player because of his childishness.

You know what they say about sure things in Vegas. As for his competitiveness/maturity issues i dont think that warrants a steroid comment. The guy looks pretty natural at about 6-3 and 210.

jumanji · Post #10 » by **jumanji** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 8:33 pm

Sashobe wrote:I live in Las Vegas and saw Bryce against Bishop Gorman.

This kid is a great player no doubt, but I am sure he is on roids. When he didn't like a call at first, he ran from right field to argue that call. He just doesn't seem like a professional ball player because of his childishness.

Pharmcat · Post #11 » by **Pharmcat** » Fri Jun 5, 2009 11:18 pm

as i posted elsewhere

i heard a rumor bout him going to play in the DR and bypass the draft and sign as a FA...obviously to get highest bid

anyone else hear this?

jumanji · Post #12 » by **jumanji** » Sat Jun 6, 2009 12:39 am

Pharmcat wrote:as i posted elsewhere

i heard a rumor bout him going to play in the DR and bypass the draft and sign as a FA...obviously to get highest bid

anyone else hear this?

That was reported in the Sports Illustrated article but his parents supposedly said no. Something tells me MLB would want to discourage kids leaving highschool early but Bud probably has bigger things on his plate. Jeremy Bonderman got his GED and was drafted after his junior year but i guess he was held back at some point so technically his original class had graduated for what that's worth.

They play with travel teams so much these days (better competition) so i'm not really sure about the big rush but we're obviously talking a once a decade or so talent.