Have a story up on Nats general manager Mike Rizzo telling ESPN 980 and the Washington Examiner’s Thom Loverro that phenom Bryce Harper won’t be patrolling the outfield at Nationals Park at all this season. Not a surprise, obviously – though Rizzo had never been so absolute prior to that interview with the Sports Fix, co-hosted by Kevin Sheehan. Check out his quotes in our story for tomorrow’s print edition. Pretty emphatic. My best guess all along has been that we’d see Harper sometime next June. Still depends on his performance, of course, and maybe on any changes to the CBA between now and then.
But fans keep asking what’s the point of keeping Harper at low-A Hagerstown when he’s dominating at the plate. Got a chance to speak last Thursday with Suns manager Brian Daubach – a big-leaguer for eight years with four different organizations – and got him to explain it. The bat is there and while the South Atlantic League pitchers will adjust that process most likely will happen at the higher levels. Here? Harper can still improve his base running, hone his outfield skills and learn alongside kids who are about his age and in the same position in life – other than being an absurd talent whose best plays end up on SportsCenter, of course.
“It’s still about getting that game experience – a ball just off the end of the bat where they take a big swing or maybe it jams him. Getting those reads, throwing to the right base,” Daubach said. “Bryce has a really good arm. It’s trying to get him to save his arm when he doesn’t have to throw it all the time. I told him ‘You’re 18 now, but one of these days you’re going to be 30 and you’re going to need to save some of them bullets. Little things like throwing to the right base. On the bases he’s a real aggressive player, which is great. You want guys to be aggressive. But know when to be aggressive – situations where you can take the extra base and situations where it’s really not the right time for it.”
Harper spent a lot of time this spring working with Tony Tarasco, the Nats’ roving outfielder and base running coordinator. His routes to the ball are better now. He is beginning to get more comfortable in right field. Harper still has to deal with opponents’ making a name for themselves at his expense. No better way for a pitcher to get attention than striking out his generation’s top hitting prospect two or three times in a game. That was an early concern. Harper hasn’t always handled that well in the past. But we’re clearly nit-picking here. The Nats just want Harper to learn the game outside of the spotlight adjust to the mental challenges of pro ball and be ready to go once he does arrive in Washington for good. But while he learns the nuances let’s not forget – he’s still hitting .366 with nine homers and the second-highest OPS in the Sally League (1.105) five months shy of his 19th birthday.
“He’s pretty good. That’s an understatement,” Daubach said. “You know, I played against Manny Ramirez his first year and really that’s the only guy I saw coming out of the high-school level that could come to pro ball and really dominate a pro level. Manny it was the [rookie ball Appalachian] League so it wasn’t even a level this high. Manny was really good. I played against some other guys – Chipper Jones really struggled his first year. He was the first pick overall, my year actually [1990]. [Yankees shortstop Derek] Jeter had [56] errors in this league, I think. Sometimes it takes some guys longer than others. But right now Bryce is way ahead of the curve no matter who you compare him, too.”
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