The Hot Stone League

Larry Stone gives his take on a wide array of baseball issues and weighs in about the Mariners too.

April 27, 2009 3:18 PM

Never mind Stephen Strasburg; check out this guy

I was snooping around on The Google, looking up some Strasburg stuff (I love me some Strasburg), and I happened to run across this video of a high-school sophomore from Las Vegas named Bryce Harper.

Now, draftphiles and prospect gurus are well aware of this kid, but I wasn't familiar with him. After doing a little more snooping, I find out that he's already the consensus pick to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2011 draft. Jim Callis of Baseball America wrote that he would be the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft, if not for the fact that he'll only be a high school junior. Harper is a left-handed hitting catcher (6-foot-3, 205 pounds) who also dabbles in pitching and throws 94 mph. His stroke is just outrageous, at least on this video, which shows a Home Run Derby during a high school showcase at Tropicana Field. Yeah, it's a metal bat, but Harper is shown hitting a 500-foot homer (502 feet was the estimate). Watch the video and tell me if you're not impressed. He also hit homers measured at 460, 484, 485, 405, and 477

The Boston Globe profiled Harper in March, and it's clear he's obsessed with becoming a major-league player. So obsessed, in fact, that I fear burnout might hit him some day. And guess with whom he's already made contact? Why, Scott Boras, naturally.

Who knows if this guy will pan out? But it will be fun to watch him develop. I have a feeling we'll be hearing the name "Bryce Harper" quite a bit in the coming years.

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