The Bryce Harper Watch

[Sharp]

wouldn't that logic have kept him from going into a JuCo wood-bat league rather than his junior year in HS?

We keep saying that he's a once in a generation prospect, but then want to treat him the same as any other prospect.  So far it seems as if he's doing pretty well at the instructional league.  I believe AFL starts tomorrow, so we should know something pretty soon.

This would be more like his going from high school to a D1 college baseball team.  JuCo at least has players closer to his own age.  Remember that even there he was struggling to hit 90 mph pitches, and apparently he has almost no ability to sit on great breaking stuff so people just feed him a steady diet of that.  More importantly, I don't think his facing pitchers in the AFL would actually benefit him all that much--the talent levels are too disparate and the amount of playing time he'll have is too short for him to hone his skills there.  As for the "once-in-a-generation" bit, I'm not sure I buy that with Harper.  Strasburg, yes.  Harper seems more like the once-every-ten-years or so incredible hitting prospect.

[blue911]

I'd imagine that there are 6 players that could better use the spot on the AFL team.

[d_mc_nabb]

I say treat him like a normal prospect. He hasn't done enough within the system for any length of time to go to the AFL, and quite frankly he shouldn't be rushed- too many were ruined like that (or so we think. Regardless, it's not worth taking the risk). Let him develop and if he rakes at each level next year send him next year.

[imref]

Kilgore reports the Nats are sending him home for now, but will decide this week if they want him to join the AFL in the next few days.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/10/bryce_harper_heads_home_for_no.html

[bglide]

Send him. 

[houston-nat]

Kilgore reports the Nats are sending him home for now, but will decide this week if they want him to join the AFL in the next few days.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/nationalsjournal/2010/10/bryce_harper_heads_home_for_no.html

For a moment I thought "him" meant Kilgore.

[John]

AFL is a huge step.

I'd wait until next year to send him there.

[imref]

Rizzo:

He showed in the instructional league he wasn't in over his head

[mcgalinmd]

Harper is going to the AFL....let the naysayers start flaming!

[imref]

Rizzo also said Harper is going to A ball and that he won't be rushed.  Something tells me rushing him isn't something we will need to worry about, he' move up rather quickly at his own pace.

[imref]

Nats Enquirer puts a marker on June 17th at Harper's debut in the bigs (of 2011):

http://www.nationalsenquirer.com/2010/10/nationals-sending-bryce-harper-to-arizona-fall-league.html

(it's a joke)

[cmdterps44]

Nats Enquirer puts a marker on June 17th at Harper's debut in the bigs (of 2011):

http://www.nationalsenquirer.com/2010/10/nationals-sending-bryce-harper-to-arizona-fall-league.html

(it's a joke)

I have him on the opening day roster. He's going to hit 20 homers in AFL with 0 strikeouts.

[Lintyfresh85]

Edit: freak it... the rant isn't worth it.

[imref]

in my ideal scenario he doesn't embarrass himself at the AFL, does well enough next year to reach Syracuse, and maybe a September call-up.

[imref]

Oh no!!!

Nationals hitting coach David Eckstein will spend time in Arizona and tutor Harper, who showed off his power by hitting several balls over the fences during batting practice in Washington after being drafted.

"We're going to tweak his stroke and his approach at the plate," Rizzo said.

Harper will turn into a .240 hitter with 15 HR power by the time Eck is done with him.

[The Chief]

Split off discussion about Eckstein and protection into a new thread in the clubhouse:

http://www.wnff.net/index.php/topic,20394.0.html

[DPMOmaha]

Interview with Byron Kerr in Arizona brings us this:

"I think in the next couple years we will be the Yankees of the N.L. East. I have been telling everyone that. We are going to roll. We are going to win some world series. That is everyone's goal. (Field coordinator) Bobby Henley preached that from day one. 'We are going to win the N.L. East someday.' I really believe that. Hopefully, we bring a couple of world series to Washington, D.C."

[cmdterps44]

Cool kid. First, we need to sign a solid front line starter (lee! ), then add a first baseman (Dunn! ). Then make a trade for an outfielder (DeJesus??) or just sign Crawford.

I like this kid.

[EdStroud]

Oh no!!!

Harper will turn into a .240 hitter with 15 HR power by the time Eck is done with him.

who cant bunt either

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Bryan Smith's first live impressions at the AFL are here. 
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/my-bryce-harper-experience/
I love the clincher:

I saw Bryce Harper go 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. I saw him take a batting practice where he failed to hit a single home run. And I can say, unequivocally, that Harper is the best player I saw in Arizona, and one of the two best prospects in baseball. Swings this mature, with the balance, the extension, the load and the transfer, don’t find themselves with teenagers often.

[hammondsnats]

Bryan Smith's first live impressions at the AFL are here. 
http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/my-bryce-harper-experience/
I love the clincher:

haha that is pretty awesome.

pretty solid writing too. 

[Lintyfresh85]

For what it's worth, in my conversations with Smith on Twitter, he also loves Norris.

So, there's at least one guy on Fangraphs that kind of, sort of likes the Nats prospects.

[Sharp]

It's a funny sort of article to find on Fangraphs given that it is completely about Harper's intangibles, with a token mention of high strikeout/LD rate at the end in a nod to the community of that site.  It's kind of refreshing to hear Bryan Smith raving about someone being a "baseball rat."

[imref]

The other thing worth pointing out, that has nothing to do with his physical tools or swing, is that it’s clear that Harper is a baseball rat. What Jason Grey wrote on Twitter Monday is absolutely true: “You can tell Bryce Harper not used to sitting – for multiple games constantly on front step of dugout fidgeting with a glove & ball or a bat.” When the Scottsdale offense registered the third out, Harper was always the first out of the dugout. When he was not up at the plate, he was always on the top step, and the most vocal of any player. Normally, make-up stories don’t do it for me, but I think Harper being a baseball rat is going to be a massive help in marrying his potential with his ultimate results.

could we call him up as a player-manager next year?

[Nick the Pig]

It's a funny sort of article to find on Fangraphs given that it is completely about Harper's intangibles, with a token mention of high strikeout/LD rate at the end in a nod to the community of that site.  It's kind of refreshing to hear Bryan Smith raving about someone being a "baseball rat."

The second time we've agreed on something.  I must note it on the calendar.

Sabergeek gushes over player using subjective measures on a sabergeek website.  This is kind of like an Elvis sighting.