Bryce Harper is heading to the major leagues today with the Washington Nationals, who are recalling the 19-year-old outfielder from Triple-A Syracuse and putting third baseman Ryan Zimmerman on the disabled list..
Harper was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft. He hit .286 in spring training this year. The Nationals wanted him to get some more time in the minors, but with their top two hitters — Zimmerman and left fielder Michael Morse — sidelined by injuries, the team decided to bring up Harper.
When Bryce Harper was 13 and 14, which is not so long ago, he traveled across the country, without his parents, to play baseball in the best tournaments, the best leagues, for 15- and 16-year-olds. The other kids teased him. The other parents were jealous. Harper could gain acceptance if he played baseball well. Then he would fly to another tournament, put his uniform on in the car on the way from the airport to the field, and start over. That was a challenge. That was pressure.
Saturday night, Harper will be where he believes he belongs. Does he? We’ll have to see. “There’s no better place to get groomed than the big leagues,” Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth said. If Harper fails and gets sent back down to the minors, he will still believe he belongs. It will not ruin him. “He needs to be challenged,” one person close to Harper said.
There is no downside for it to happen now. If he’s ready, great, the Nationals have added offense to a team that desperately needs it. If he is not, he will handle it. His world will not end.
In that regard, Harper will benefit by being more famous than pretty much everyone on the field. He calls Albert Pujols by his first name. He wore a hat with an uncommon logo this spring, and when asked for an explanation, Harper said, “Kobe and Beckham wear it.”
He’ll walk to the plate Saturday night at Dodgers Stadium. He may or may not be ready. He will have handled tougher situations on a diamond. What will happen? Who knows?
No comments:
Post a Comment