I've seen videos of the kid. I'll admit...he's phenomenal, but the baseball's version of LeBron? That's seriously pushing it. I mean the kid is going against high school pitching who we all know isn't like facing Randy Johnson, Roy Halladay, or C.C. Sabathia. The majority of high school pitchers (unless you play in select leagues) have a fastball that's 80-82 mph and are not capable of hitting their spots consistently, so it's easy for a guy like Harper to take balls out of the ballpark. True, Harper has balls that have traveled 450+ and even 500 feet plus, but I want to see him face the game's elite in Turner Field or Yankee Stadium or in Fenway. See how he handles that kind of pressure? If he comes through in the clutch time and time again then well yeah he's the real deal by a long shot.
It's interesting that he's playing catcher too. I don't know of many teams in the market for catching help come 2011. We can all agree that the Nationals will probably have the privilege of picking #1 overall again, which every analyst this side of the globe is projecting Harper to go. Many teams have gone to young, powerful catchers that can swing the bat. The Twins have Mauer, the Braves have McCann, the Cubs Soto, etc. It's a new trend and I'm not sure if Harper's future will honestly be behind the dish.
Lastly, what his parents are doing is really insane. Now, I'm all for a guy who has played four years of high school ball to enter the draft and try his chances at the professional level if he so chooses. That's his right. But, trying to enter the draft early at 17 and before you finish high school? C'mon now. His parents are advocating it, too? I mean all they really are seeing is the dollar signs it seems like and honestly they won't even begin to see that for a few years down the road when the kid proves himself on the field (minus the signing bonus of course). Finish high school, man. Not only are you not physically and emotionally mature enough to handle the rigors of being on the road months at a time, but also what about your teammates in high school? I mean don't they deserve a shot at a Championship your senior year? I'm not quite sure how well Harper's high school has been doing but I'm willing to bet with him in the lineup they have a better chance of succeeding than without him. Basically, let's wait until 2011, or realistically 2013-14 to see how good this kid really is. Until then, I'm not going to compare him to anybody especially someone to the liking of LeBron James. That's just ludicrous.
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