HS Baseball Phenom leaves after Sophomore year... Thoughts

[mj79]

His name is Bryce Harper and is thought to many as being the next great baseball prospect. He's a catcher from NV and is getting similar HS hype in baseball as Lebron did in basketball. He was an Aflac All-American as a freshman in high school. He hit .590 11HR 67RBI in only 38 games for Las Vegas HS as a freshman.

He's been rumored of hitting 550+ ft homeruns, throwing a 95mph+ fastball(even though he's a catcher), and is only 16yrs old. He has chosen to leave HS after his sophomore year, get his GED, and go to a community college to try to be drafted in 2010. There are already talks of him being the #1 overall pick in 2010 just because of his raw talent. Just wanted to see everyone's thoughts on what he's doing and your opinion of him.

Why I mostly support Bryce Harper's decision to skip high school

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQQ5cZD8PgU

[toef]

Originally Posted by mj79

His name is Bryce Harper and is thought to many as being the next great baseball prospect. He's a catcher from NV and is getting similar HS hype in baseball as Lebron did in basketball. He was an Aflac All-American as a freshman in high school. He hit .590 11HR 67RBI in only 38 games for Las Vegas HS as a freshman.

He's been rumored of hitting 550+ ft homeruns, throwing a 95mph+ fastball(even though he's a catcher), and is only 16yrs old. He has chosen to leave HS after his sophomore year, get his GED, and go to a community college to try to be drafted in 2010. There are already talks of him being the #1 overall pick in 2010 just because of his raw talent. Just wanted to see everyone's thoughts on what he's doing and your opinion of him.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/blog/big...urn=mlb,170270

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQQ5cZD8PgU

I wish him luck. Even if he is the Lebron James of high school baseball, he still has a long way to go before getting to the majors, because baseball doesn't work the same way as basketball.

It's a bit stupid to at least not finish high school though.

It's more than likely he'll sit around in Double AA and put up average stats, and that will be it for his baseball career. There are always a handful of baseball prospects, but they hardly ever pan out. Just ask Billy Beane.

[Infrared Sight]

Agreed. Baseball is not like basketball in any way. That kid should finish High School because he could crash in burn in the minors. Good luck for him though.

[Bigdog]

Good luck to him, though leaving high school early is the wrong move imo. He wont find high school pitchers in the majors throwing 80 mph meatballs up to the plate, he will need to learn a lot to get to the show.

[DonRSD]

finish up school then enjoy your college years.
what a dope......goes to show you that todays society = get the money NOW as opposed to building yourself for the future (college)

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by DonRSD

finish up school then enjoy your college years.
what a dope......goes to show you that todays society = get the money NOW as opposed to building yourself for the future (college)

Exactly. Where are his parents? Probably picking out the furniture for the new house.

Someone needs to set this kid aside and talk to him, he's one injury away from a career at McDonald's.

[Fors*]

I think if he's throwing a baseball around 95 mph now at age 16, then by 23-24 he will just end up blowing his arm out and need rotator cuff surgery and that will be the end of his career....before most players his age even get started...not to mention that baseball is as much a mental game as any sport....I'm sure he is lacking in maturity in some way....which is a recipe for disaster as well....but I do wish him luck.....

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

I think if he's throwing a baseball around 95 mph now at age 16, then by 23-24 he will just end up blowing his arm out and need rotator cuff surgery and that will be the end of his career....before most players his age even get started...not to mention that baseball is as much a mental game as any sport....I'm sure he is lacking in maturity in some way....which is a recipe for disaster as well....but I do wish him luck.....

He's not trying to be a professional pitcher (he's a catcher), so he shouldn't throw his arm out. Pitching is likely going to be his fallback if he can't hit in the majors.

I agree that this probably isn't a good idea. I would at least play one more year of high school before going pro. He's never faced anyone like he would in the majors (or even high minors) and doing poorly could leave him shellshocked and ruin his whole career. Harper is advised by Scott Boras too, so they'll likely be expecting at least a $20 million contract, and a lot of teams would balk at that asking price for someone who played 2 years of high school baseball.

[b0bby]

call me a skeptic but those numbers scream roids. +550 ft HRs and mid 90s fast balls @ 16 yrs old??? either way his parents are stupid. its too early to determine how good he will be. lebron pretty much had the same body he has now when he was in HS. this dude may still be growing.

[mikejet]

I heard about this guy on NPR.

What they should do for all professional sports is require either:
A. An AA or BA degree
B. Be over 21 with a HS diploma and some college

You can fulfill either of those requirements.

That way if someone is good at sports at a young age and just so happens to be a genius too they can play early. If not they have to graduate HS and take some college then they can try out for the pros.

[hc666]

Yeah baseball prospects never turn out.

The allstars are usually taken in the 80th round haha.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

He's not trying to be a professional pitcher (he's a catcher), so he shouldn't throw his arm out. Pitching is likely going to be his fallback if he can't hit in the majors.

I agree that this probably isn't a good idea. I would at least play one more year of high school before going pro. He's never faced anyone like he would in the majors (or even high minors) and doing poorly could leave him shellshocked and ruin his whole career. Harper is advised by Scott Boras too, so they'll likely be expecting at least a $20 million contract, and a lot of teams would balk at that asking price for someone who played 2 years of high school baseball.

Well cathcer's have shorter careers than pitchers, and if he is so worried about the $$$ like he is, he'll fall back on that pitching career before we know it, especially since they do get paid a lot more too. In the end, he'll be screwed up somehow, probably both physically and emotionally. Nothing like pimping out your own son.......

[Blu-Benny]

i thought this kid got drafted by the Nationals in last week draft??? i'm not familiar w/how baseball's draft works and when the players can join the team b/c i know on the local radio station they had said the Brewers drafted X # of players and so many were from the high school level.

[Rob71]

Originally Posted by hc666

Yeah baseball prospects never turn out.

The allstars are usually taken in the 80th round haha.

He's also been given the Sports Illustrated "Cover Of Death".

[nick1091]

Originally Posted by mikejet

I heard about this guy on NPR.

What they should do for all professional sports is require either:
A. An AA or BA degree
B. Be over 21 with a HS diploma and some college

You can fulfill either of those requirements.

That way if someone is good at sports at a young age and just so happens to be a genius too they can play early. If not they have to graduate HS and take some college then they can try out for the pros.

Do you realize how few major league ballplayers actually meet either of those requirements?

I'm not saying that what this guy wants to do is necessarily the right thing, but I don't think college should be forced on people who don't want it. If you're of legal age and don't want to go to college, you're only effecting yourself if you don't go. It's not as if actors or musicians have to go to college before they're allowed to release a CD, and their talents are about as transferrable to a "real job" than those of an athlete's, with similar ratios of success vs. failure.

[b0bby]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

i thought this kid got drafted by the Nationals in last week draft??? i'm not familiar w/how baseball's draft works and when the players can join the team b/c i know on the local radio station they had said the Brewers drafted X # of players and so many were from the high school level.

thats a different phenom pitcher who is in college. he is legit. this other high school dude has a long road ahead of him with his money hungry parents.

[jono_0101]

Originally Posted by b0bby

call me a skeptic but those numbers scream roids. +550 ft HRs and mid 90s fast balls @ 16 yrs old??? either way his parents are stupid. its too early to determine how good he will be. lebron pretty much had the same body he has now when he was in HS. this dude may still be growing.

i tend to agree here, we all know its going on in high school now, and people are so concerned about money, theyll do anything, what they arent thinking about is that he is just a kid, and his body is still maturing and growing, and even if he isnt using roids, the stress playing even at a minor league level on his body is still probably too much for an underdeveloped kid, he is going to screw up something and ruin his entire prospective career if he doesnt slow it down and develop his body to the point that it can handle all the stress hes going to be putting on it, best of luck, but this doesnt sound like its going to turn out well

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by Blu-Benny

i thought this kid got drafted by the Nationals in last week draft??? i'm not familiar w/how baseball's draft works and when the players can join the team b/c i know on the local radio station they had said the Brewers drafted X # of players and so many were from the high school level.

That was Stephen Strasburg, a pitcher from San Diego State. Players can be drafted once they have graduated high school. If they choose to go to college or are undrafted out of high school and go to college they cannot be drafted again until after their junior year. This only applies to people from the US, Puerto Rico, and Canada. International players can sign whenever. A player can sign and play for a team immediately after the draft, although high round picks usually don't sign until August. If a player doesn't sign by August 15 (August 17 this year because August 15 is a Saturday) then they will reenter the draft next year and the team that drafted them will get the equivalent pick in next year's draft. This means if the Nationals don't get Strasburg signed they'll probably have the top 2 picks, because they'll "earn" the top pick with the worst record and the 2nd pick as a compensatory pick for not signing this year's pick.

Originally Posted by mikejet

I heard about this guy on NPR.

What they should do for all professional sports is require either:
A. An AA or BA degree
B. Be over 21 with a HS diploma and some college

You can fulfill either of those requirements.

That way if someone is good at sports at a young age and just so happens to be a genius too they can play early. If not they have to graduate HS and take some college then they can try out for the pros.

I like baseball's current system, but think you should not be able to be drafted until you graduate high school and are 18 (or will be 18 by a certain date, say August 1). The NBA's age limit is showing what a joke forcing people to go to college is. Players like Derrick Rose and OJ Mayo just get paid under the table and rig their grades to get eligible. If they raised the age limit more players would just go overseas and get paid, or there would just be more cheating scandals. I say go with baseball's rule, where if you go to college you have to stay 3 years. Don't force these players to go to college if they don't want to go or don't have the grades to get into college.

[Blu-Benny]

Originally Posted by b0bby

thats a different phenom pitcher who is in college. he is legit. this other high school dude has a long road ahead of him with his money hungry parents.

ok, i just found an article on the #1 pick, u're right.

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I like baseball's current system, but think you should not be able to be drafted until you graduate high school and are 18 (or will be 18 by a certain date, say August 1). The NBA's age limit is showing what a joke forcing people to go to college is. Players like Derrick Rose and OJ Mayo just get paid under the table and rig their grades to get eligible. If they raised the age limit more players would just go overseas and get paid, or there would just be more cheating scandals. I say go with baseball's rule, where if you go to college you have to stay 3 years. Don't force these players to go to college if they don't want to go or don't have the grades to get into college.

It's going to be interesting this year for the NBA Draft because there will be a guy who went straight to Europe after HS and then will be in this years draft. There's a lot of differing opinions on how it will be handled.