Nationals Phenom Bryce Harper Has Promising Debut

Bryce Harper, the 19-year-old, highly touted prospect, made his major league debut on Saturday, April 28th.  He went 1-3 with a double and an RBI off of a sacrifice fly in a 4-3 Nationals loss to the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Harper, the number one draft pick in 2010 at the age of 17, had spent the first part of this season at the National’s AAA affiliate team in Syracuse, after spending all of the 2011 season with minor league teams in Hagerstown, Harrisburg, and Arizona.

Harper is considered one of baseball’s highest touted prospects in the history of the game.  Many were skeptical of his ability to continue adapting and improving his game after developing such amazing skills at a young age.  Harper was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of 16.  Harper left high school after his sophomore year to earn his GED.  He then enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada, a member of the Scenic West Athletic Confrence, a wooden-bat league for junior colleges, where he led his team to a berth in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) World Series.  He was named the number prospect in both 2011 and 2012 by Baseball America.

Many were surprised at the timing of Harper’s call up to the major leagues.  Through 20 games in Syracuse, he hit an unremarkable .250, with only 3 RBI’s.

“It was a puzzling move to me,” says Talawanda senior Zury Rivera.  “I didn’t think he was doing that well in the minors so far this season.  And to debut him on the road against the Dodgers, one of the league’s better teams so far this season?  Weird.”

There has been no timetable for Harper’s stay in the majors.  He played again against the Dodgers on Sunday, again going 1-3 with a single and a walk.