Bryce Harper was on the June 8, 2009, cover of Sports Illustrated.
The issue's headline: "Baseball's Chosen One." The subhead: "Bryce Harper is the most exciting prodigy since LeBron."
At the time, Harper was more than four months away from his 17th birthday.
A year later, the Washington Nationals made the then-17-year-old the top pick in the draft.
Harper went to high school for two years, was the first non-senior to receive the Baseball America High School Player of the Year award, earned his GED and attended the College of Southern Nevada to play junior college baseball -- a step up from high school competition.
At Southern Nevada, during a season in which he would have been a junior in high school, Harper batted .443 with 31 home runs and 98 RBI using mostly a wooden bat.
You could say it's no surprise Harper is regarded as the best prospect in fantasy baseball -- you've been reading about him for two years.
You could say it's no surprise he tops our list of the top 10 prospects from a fantasy baseball perspective.
But you can't say it's not entertaining to read about Harper's exploits. If he lives up to half of his promise, he should be an All-Star within five years -- which would be a few months prior to his 24th birthday.
As we wrote in the debut piece, we started this project with three rules of thumb: 1. Each player must be under 24 years old. 2. A position player has to have fewer than 100 at-bats in the majors, and a pitcher must have thrown fewer than 40 innings in the bigs. 3. The top 10 are ranked according to how effective we think they will be in fantasy baseball. The 2011 season would be nice, but we're more focused on how they will perform in the future and their staying power.
On to the final player on our list: Baseball's LeBron James (hopefully without Jim Gray and the ESPN special when Harper's Nationals contract runs out).
Two quotes to remember
Essential information
Rizzo's comment underscores the only real question about Harper: When will he arrive?
He tore up junior-college baseball at age 17. He batted .319 with four home runs in 47 at-bats in the Florida Instructional League in 2010. He then hit .343 in the Arizona Fall League, not long after turning 18.
Baseball America anticipates he'll be a big-leaguer in 2013, which seems about right since Harper is slated to start 2011 in short-season Class A.
At this point, however, we wouldn't be surprised if he was on the Nats' 25-man roster sometime in 2012.
Harper played in 13 games this spring with the Nationals. He was 7-for-18 (.389) with a .450 on-base percentage, three runs, three doubles and five RBI.
He is no longer being asked to catch (he's listed as an outfielder), which should accelerate his development.
You've probably read about the home run he hit in high school that was measured at 570 feet. And the 502-foot shot at age 16 that is the longest homer in Tropicana Field history. You might even know he batted .616 in high school, even though he never played past his sophomore season.
You might think the Harper hype has been overdone, and you could be right.
We thought the same about LeBron James eight years ago.
Or maybe Harper is that good.
We can't wait to find out.
PREVIOUS:No. 2, Mike Trout
NEXT: A roundup of the top 10 prospects
2011 fantasy baseballrankings:
Catchers, First basemen, Second basemen, Shortstops, Third basemen, Designated hitters, Outfielders, Starting pitchers, Closers, Top 100 overall, Guide to our 2011 fantasy rankings, Guide to the top keepers
For updates, analysis and links during the season, follow Kevin Kleps on Twitter.
The issue's headline: "Baseball's Chosen One." The subhead: "Bryce Harper is the most exciting prodigy since LeBron."
At the time, Harper was more than four months away from his 17th birthday.
A year later, the Washington Nationals made the then-17-year-old the top pick in the draft.
Harper went to high school for two years, was the first non-senior to receive the Baseball America High School Player of the Year award, earned his GED and attended the College of Southern Nevada to play junior college baseball -- a step up from high school competition.
At Southern Nevada, during a season in which he would have been a junior in high school, Harper batted .443 with 31 home runs and 98 RBI using mostly a wooden bat.
You could say it's no surprise Harper is regarded as the best prospect in fantasy baseball -- you've been reading about him for two years.
You could say it's no surprise he tops our list of the top 10 prospects from a fantasy baseball perspective.
But you can't say it's not entertaining to read about Harper's exploits. If he lives up to half of his promise, he should be an All-Star within five years -- which would be a few months prior to his 24th birthday.
As we wrote in the debut piece, we started this project with three rules of thumb: 1. Each player must be under 24 years old. 2. A position player has to have fewer than 100 at-bats in the majors, and a pitcher must have thrown fewer than 40 innings in the bigs. 3. The top 10 are ranked according to how effective we think they will be in fantasy baseball. The 2011 season would be nice, but we're more focused on how they will perform in the future and their staying power.
On to the final player on our list: Baseball's LeBron James (hopefully without Jim Gray and the ESPN special when Harper's Nationals contract runs out).
1. Bryce Harper, OF, Nationals
- Height, weight: 6-3, 225
- Bats/throws: Left/right
- Born: Oct. 16, 1992 (18 on opening day)
- Rank on Baseball America's top 100 for 2011: 1
Two quotes to remember
- "Harper is special. He really is. It is almost impossible to overstate how much potential this guy has." Baseball America's Aaron Fitt, to MASNSports.com
- "He's a guy who could possibly be a cornerstone in our lineup in the very near future." Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo, to ESPN.com, after Harper signed just before the August deadline for draft picks in 2010
Essential information
Rizzo's comment underscores the only real question about Harper: When will he arrive?
He tore up junior-college baseball at age 17. He batted .319 with four home runs in 47 at-bats in the Florida Instructional League in 2010. He then hit .343 in the Arizona Fall League, not long after turning 18.
Baseball America anticipates he'll be a big-leaguer in 2013, which seems about right since Harper is slated to start 2011 in short-season Class A.
At this point, however, we wouldn't be surprised if he was on the Nats' 25-man roster sometime in 2012.
Harper played in 13 games this spring with the Nationals. He was 7-for-18 (.389) with a .450 on-base percentage, three runs, three doubles and five RBI.
He is no longer being asked to catch (he's listed as an outfielder), which should accelerate his development.
You've probably read about the home run he hit in high school that was measured at 570 feet. And the 502-foot shot at age 16 that is the longest homer in Tropicana Field history. You might even know he batted .616 in high school, even though he never played past his sophomore season.
You might think the Harper hype has been overdone, and you could be right.
We thought the same about LeBron James eight years ago.
Or maybe Harper is that good.
We can't wait to find out.
PREVIOUS:No. 2, Mike Trout
NEXT: A roundup of the top 10 prospects
2011 fantasy baseballrankings:
Catchers, First basemen, Second basemen, Shortstops, Third basemen, Designated hitters, Outfielders, Starting pitchers, Closers, Top 100 overall, Guide to our 2011 fantasy rankings, Guide to the top keepers
For updates, analysis and links during the season, follow Kevin Kleps on Twitter.
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