What are your thoughts on the 16 year old Harper being on the cover of SI? He plays catcher, crushes the ball, runs like a deer, and throws a modest 96 mph fastball. Will he be for real or will the SI jinx catch up to him?
Last edited by rjwock07 on Thu Jun 04, 2009 2:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Great things come from the mind of a man who can be happy, but never satisfied."
He's 16, he's using aluminum bats, he's hitting off high school pitching, he's facing high school hitting, and he's throwing out high school baserunners. It doesn't talk about who his high school team plays (I played for a nationally ranked top 25 high school team, and our schedule would vary from 5A public schools who were in the top 10 that we battled to 1-0 games to 2A private schools [our official league] that we curb-stomped 30-0 to force games to be called in the 3rd inning [turns out there's a 30 run rule ]), whether he can hit a real curveball, etc. His BA isn't that uncommon in high school (we had a kid end up with a HS career BA over .600), and just because you can hit batting practice really far doesn't mean you can hit or recognize a solid change up.
Injuries, girls, big league junkballers. This kid's got a whole lot left to learn. We'll see how he does in 2 years.
Pogotheostrich wrote:There has been some rumors about him getting his GED and going to play at a junior college for a year so he can enter the draft earlier.
I think he needs to atleast finish H.S. He is only a kid and he needs those years to develop SOCIALLY. He will play quality teams and face quality pitching in all star summer leagues. And lets be honest, if we are talking about him, someone is working with him.
"Great things come from the mind of a man who can be happy, but never satisfied."
iltat wrote:He's 16, he's using aluminum bats, he's hitting off high school pitching, he's facing high school hitting, and he's throwing out high school baserunners. It doesn't talk about who his high school team plays (I played for a nationally ranked top 25 high school team, and our schedule would vary from 5A public schools who were in the top 10 that we battled to 1-0 games to 2A private schools [our official league] that we curb-stomped 30-0 to force games to be called in the 3rd inning [turns out there's a 30 run rule ]), whether he can hit a real curveball, etc. His BA isn't that uncommon in high school (we had a kid end up with a HS career BA over .600), and just because you can hit batting practice really far doesn't mean you can hit or recognize a solid change up.
Injuries, girls, big league junkballers. This kid's got a whole lot left to learn. We'll see how he does in 2 years.
It's not that I totally disagree, but you're talking about a kid who they are saying is legitimate competition for Strasburg as "best amateur prospect." Playing it off like he's "just some phenom" is borderline ridiculous. I mean you could say the same thing about the high school guys they're saying he's better than (Griffey, ARod, little Upton) and those guys seem to have turned out ok. I guess the jury is still out on Upton but it looks promising.
If I were him, I would have wanted to get my GED then the go DR after last season, play better talent then he ever would in HS and JUCO. He'd probably have been over shadowed by Miguel Angel Sano though.
iltat wrote:He's 16, he's using aluminum bats, he's hitting off high school pitching, he's facing high school hitting, and he's throwing out high school baserunners. It doesn't talk about who his high school team plays (I played for a nationally ranked top 25 high school team, and our schedule would vary from 5A public schools who were in the top 10 that we battled to 1-0 games to 2A private schools [our official league] that we curb-stomped 30-0 to force games to be called in the 3rd inning [turns out there's a 30 run rule ]), whether he can hit a real curveball, etc. His BA isn't that uncommon in high school (we had a kid end up with a HS career BA over .600), and just because you can hit batting practice really far doesn't mean you can hit or recognize a solid change up.
Injuries, girls, big league junkballers. This kid's got a whole lot left to learn. We'll see how he does in 2 years.
It's not that I totally disagree, but you're talking about a kid who they are saying is legitimate competition for Strasburg as "best amateur prospect." Playing it off like he's "just some phenom" is borderline ridiculous. I mean you could say the same thing about the high school guys they're saying he's better than (Griffey, ARod, little Upton) and those guys seem to have turned out ok. I guess the jury is still out on Upton but it looks promising.
It's completely true that he may turn out to be the next Griffey or ARod. However, at the moment, he's only 16 and hasn't actually been tested. Until last year (or 2 years ago?), no one had heard of Strasburg either. He proved himself against a considerable step up from where this kid is, which was by playing high-end college ball. This kid's not even allowed into most Proms. The level of competition he's proven himself against so far isn't comparable to the level of competition Strasburg has seen. Thus:
iltat wrote:He's 16, he's using aluminum bats, he's hitting off high school pitching, he's facing high school hitting, and he's throwing out high school baserunners. It doesn't talk about who his high school team plays (I played for a nationally ranked top 25 high school team, and our schedule would vary from 5A public schools who were in the top 10 that we battled to 1-0 games to 2A private schools [our official league] that we curb-stomped 30-0 to force games to be called in the 3rd inning [turns out there's a 30 run rule ]), whether he can hit a real curveball, etc. His BA isn't that uncommon in high school (we had a kid end up with a HS career BA over .600), and just because you can hit batting practice really far doesn't mean you can hit or recognize a solid change up.
Injuries, girls, big league junkballers. This kid's got a whole lot left to learn. We'll see how he does in 2 years.
It's not that I totally disagree, but you're talking about a kid who they are saying is legitimate competition for Strasburg as "best amateur prospect." Playing it off like he's "just some phenom" is borderline ridiculous. I mean you could say the same thing about the high school guys they're saying he's better than (Griffey, ARod, little Upton) and those guys seem to have turned out ok. I guess the jury is still out on Upton but it looks promising.
It's completely true that he may turn out to be the next Griffey or ARod. However, at the moment, he's only 16 and hasn't actually been tested. Until last year (or 2 years ago?), no one had heard of Strasburg either. He proved himself against a considerable step up from where this kid is, which was by playing high-end college ball. This kid's not even allowed into most Proms. The level of competition he's proven himself against so far isn't comparable to the level of competition Strasburg has seen. Thus:
We'll see how he does in 2 years.
People aren't just looking at numbers. Size, athleticism, speed, 96MPH, does any of that have to do with competition?
I ain't askin' nobody for nothin, If I can't get it on my own. - Charlie Daniels
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by rjwock07 » Thu Jun 04, 2009 2:18 pm 
]), whether he can hit a real curveball, etc. His BA isn't that uncommon in high school (we had a kid end up with a HS career BA over .600), and just because you can hit batting practice really far doesn't mean you can hit or recognize a solid change up.
