Bryce Harper: Baseball's LeBron?

Okay, this is a bit wonky but enjoy...

Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci recently wrote an article about Bryce Harper, a baseball phenom from Las Vegas, who reportedly hit a 517-foot home run as a high school freshman last year. Verducci's article likens Harper not just to LeBron James but also to Tiger Woods and Wayne Gretzky. Harper's family also announced that he will be dropping out of high school and getting his GED so he can enroll in junior college and become eligible for the MLB draft a year earlier than he would have if he had stayed in high school. I tend to agree with this blogger on the reasons why it's not such a bad idea. Frankly, I don't understand why more kids that are just bored with high school but smart enough to get a GED don't bother to do this since it's considered the equivalent of a high school diploma and still allows you to enroll in community college.

I perused the article and saw this YouTube video about Harper:



He certainly has a fluid swing. It's a level swing, so he should be able to stay on top of a high pitch, which is typically not true with left-handed hitters. He even showed some power hitting the only opposite field HR in the event. I don't see him as a pitcher at all just because of his hitting prowess. It says he's a catcher but he has great speed and even scored from second base on a wild pitch six times this season. (That claim sounds similar to Kim Jong Il's claim that he shot 11 holes-in-one the first time he played golf or the scene in "The Babe" where Babe Ruth hits an inside-the-park home run on an infield popup.) Either way, I see him as a 1B or 3B unless he's defensively challenged fielding grounders, in which case that throwing arm and speed would make him a solid CF or RF.

Now to the downside, he's hitting 500-foot bombs in the video with an aluminum bad. I'd like to see how he does with a wooden bat. Also, at 7:02 in the YouTube clip is a slow motion side shot of his swing. There is a slight hitch in his swing that could make him susceptible to pitches low-and-away. If he starts to compensate by dipping that back shoulder, as many major leaguers tend to do in a slump, it could impact him psychologically since he's never failed at any level in baseball and further a downward spiral. In other words, his mental makeup and response to coaching are going to be key factors in his success.

That's my take. Read the article, watch the video, and judge for yourself. Thanks for reading my blog!!