The Bryce Harper Compendium (2012)

[Baseball is Life]

"Watching him play baseball would be a privilege and a joy were it not for the fact that he’s completely insufferable and playing for a team that’s nearly as irritating as he is individually."

Really Philly?  The Phillies fans, enjoying a great 5 years of good baseball, come down to Nats Park already wasted, smash cup holders and throw them on the field after the game (a game Philly won) and the Nats are irritating?  What the hell is wrong with these people?  Give a team that was built the right way that is succeeding their due.

Awwwh. Have we pissed them off?

Now they know how we feel.

BTW, Harper is now getting top billing in all the national game teases. You know, "watch Bryce Harper and the Nationals take on Derek Jeter and the Yankees."

Love it.

[loshjott]

Apparently Philthy Phans are upset with him:

http://blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2012/06/13/hate-bryce-harper/

That article should be re-titled, "I'm bitter about the decline of my team so I need to lash out at someone else."

[Lintyfresh85]

The article was written the day after the Sundat night game. Why are we discussing it now.?

[NC Nats Fan]

Tim McCarver can go eff himself.

He is a jealous old man.

[HalfSmokes]

playing for a team that’s nearly as irritating as he is individually.

we can't all be the miami heat north with aging stars taking team friendly deals to win a ring

[The Chief]

Bryce has had fewer ABs (I believe 18 fewer), so it's possible that once they're equal that Bryce has come down to earth, though that seems unlikely.

Harper could K his next 18 ABs and still be OPSing .839.

[Slateman]

http://www.wnff.net/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=26902.0;attach=8076;image

Where can I get that tshirt?

[PC]

A-Rod: I would 'pay money' to see Bryce Harper

If anyone can relate to what Bryce Harper's world is like, it would have to be Alex Rodriguez. The New York Yankees star remembers playing major league baseball as a heralded 19-year old with the expectations of millions of fans on your shoulders.

"I love big talent. I am a baseball fan," Rodriguez said of the Washington Nationals rookie phenom a night before the Yankees will travel to Washington and see the outfielder in the flesh. "To be 19 years old and doing what he is doing. . ."

The hustling Harper— who seems to be on highlight reels almost every night— is batting .307 with seven home-runs and 19 RBIs in 40 games for the Nationals.

The Yankees slugger said he won't approach Harper at the batting cage before tonight's game but would chat up the rookie if he makes the first move.

"I am very supportive of young players, not just on our team," said A-Rod. "They call or text, and I'm always available."

How lucky is A-Rod that he won't have to spend a dime to watch Harper and the NL East-leading Nats when the two teams meet tonight.

http://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/a_rod_i_would_pay_money_to_see_bryce_harper/11011652

Will you chip in on the $400 million in six years, A-Rod?

[MorseTheHorse]

One question I have for the crowd:  Why do people still talk about the need for a long term CFer.  It seems to me Harper has the speed and athleticism to be an elite CFer defensively once he figures it out (he clearly lacks some experience and misjudges balls of the bat but you gotta figure that is just due to only playing in the OF recently). 

[tomterp]

One question I have for the crowd:  Why do people still talk about the need for a long term CFer.  It seems to me Harper has the speed and athleticism to be an elite CFer defensively once he figures it out (he clearly lacks some experience and misjudges balls of the bat but you gotta figure that is just due to only playing in the OF recently).

He's going to continue to grow and thus bigger/stronger/slower over time.  Plus he doesn't really get great reads on the ball given his extreme lack of experience.  He's a natural for a corner OF position I would think.

[soxfan59]

A true baseball fan can't hate a truly gifted player like Harper. 

I think there was a perception when Harper was in the minors that he was arrogant and felt "entitled."  I don't see much of that now.  He's just intense. 

If he was playing for the arch-rival team, and ended up making a great play or hitting a home run against the White Sox and then did some sort of arrogant preening, I might lose a little respect for him, but in watching Nats highlights all season, I honestly haven't seen any of that.  Its always been Harper reacting in the heat of the moment, like pumping his fist when called safe on a close play.  You can't fault a guy for that. 

Bryce Harper is the real deal.  Nats fans should enjoy it for all its worth.

[houston-nat]

"Watching him play baseball would be a privilege and a joy were it not for the fact that he’s completely insufferable and playing for a team that’s nearly as irritating as he is individually."

Bryce Harper is a Phillie?

[MarquisDeSade]

Just like Josh Hamilton...

[PC]

Not specifically Harper related but from a Philly's reporter questioning whether they should be sellers:

As the Phillies slip deeper into the last-place muck, the question is not whether all or any will survive their tenure as Phillies until then, but rather, should they? Rollins probably will, since the offseason deal he signed now looks more like a reward for past service than a bet on current and future worth. But Pence is arbitration-eligible for one more season before he becomes a free agent in 2013, and Hamels, still unsigned, is shaping up as one of the premier prizes of this offseason, not to mention an extremely desirable midseason addition to a team with deep pockets and even deeper aspirations.

Dodger Blue, Marlin black, Yankee pinstripes, Cardinal red, even those dreaded Nationals. The flip side of the extra wild cards is it opens up a slew of suitors to the few teams with too many issues and too much ground to make up. Which is where the Phillies, if they are not there already, are headed.

Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20120614_Should_Phillies_be_dealers_and_build_for_next_year_.html#ixzz1xnMfBJEY

[Lintyfresh85]

One question I have for the crowd:  Why do people still talk about the need for a long term CFer.  It seems to me Harper has the speed and athleticism to be an elite CFer defensively once he figures it out (he clearly lacks some experience and misjudges balls of the bat but you gotta figure that is just due to only playing in the OF recently). 

Because he's not a CF'er.

He's a corner OF'er playing dress up as a CF'er.

[BH34Natural]

I would rather have Harper play RF and not be moved all around inning to inning for the next 15 years. Pencil in right field and forget about him. I've played the game and baseball is about comfort. Whether you're a turd like me or Bryce Harper that principle is the same. Put him in RF and forget all the swapping around

[MarquisDeSade]

I would rather have Harper play RF and not be moved all around inning to inning for the next 15 years.

[Minty Fresh]

I'd like to nominate this for PotY.

[houston-nat]

I'd like to nominate this for PotY.

I don't get why the OP was funny, but the sea of :lmao:s is kinda hypnotizing.

[MarquisDeSade]

I don't get why the OP was funny, but the sea of :lmao:s is kinda hypnotizing.

Reread it, especially the amount of time in question.

[soxfan59]

Bryce Harper is a Phillie?

News from today's Chicago Tribune, according to the national chain exterminator, Terminex, Philadelphia is the most bed bug infested city in the nation.

[MorseTheHorse]

Because he's not a CF'er.

He's a corner OF'er playing dress up as a CF'er.

He's not a CF'er b/c he isn't a CFer?  I was hoping for a bit more analysis=),  Seems to me a center fielder needs to be fast (check), athletic (check), have a good arm (check) and read the ball well off the bat (no check yet, but one would assume this skill will develop).  Harper's bat may well be elite at any position on the field, it certainly looks that way, but if he can play good defensive CF along with his bat, I mean !!!

It's my suspicion alot of us learned about Bryce as a catcher on the cover of SI, so we kinda assumed he was a bit slow.  I mean I don't follow the minors that much even when Bryce was there so I remember just being dumbfounded at how fast he ran to first base his first couple games he was up in the majors.  Could it be the main reason people don't think of him as a CFer is because many of us held this preconceived notion he probably wasn't fast b/c he was a catcher (and big and strong).  Perhaps I'm wrong here tho...

[HalfSmokes]

Could it be the main reason people don't think of him as a CFer is because many of us held this preconceived notion he probably wasn't fast b/c he was a catcher (and big and strong).  Perhaps I'm wrong here tho...

or maybe that it takes years to learn and on a major league team with playoff aspirations may not be the best time

[JCA-CrystalCity]

MorsetheHorse - I can't think of a CF that is his size.  Maybe Hamilton.  I think Harper will be bigger than Andruw Jones.  Wily Mo Pena was not a full time CF.  CFs get beat up physically and wear themselves down from covering ground.  Hamilton was kept in LF most of last year to spare his body from damage and only shifted to CF full time in the playoffs so that Murphy could play full time.  It would be a huge advantage if Harper could play CF full time, but you lose some of that advantage if he gets hurt a lot by hitting walls, diving, and getting tired lugging that huge body into both gaps. 

The team has already made one decision to keep Harper on the field as much as possible by shifting him from catcher to the OF.  It would surprise me if plan A was not to land the White Whale and move Harper to a corner.

[MorseTheHorse]

JCA great post, thanks.