The Immense Hype Behind Bryce Harper’s Road to MLB 

Yeah exactly, not to mention he plays through injuries all of the time.

Ya me to! Love the way he plays and his personality is cool. I always wanted him on my Yankees

I find it even funnier that I knew who Bryce Harper was when he was 16. I never heard of Trout until he was the Angels top prospect. Still can’t believe that 26 (I think 26. Around that many.) players were picked before him in the draft. What burns even more is that the pick the Angels used for him was a compensation pick that the Yankees had to give them for signing Mark Teixeira.

Don’t disagree but if trout keeps getting hurt we might have to revisit this

harper does have the potential to be on the same plane as trout. i mean look at those 2015 mvp numbers. like what

@@JG54206 I knew Trout as the only weirdo who ever go to the MLB Draft. I watch it I was 13 I was laughing like I hope he comes the best and make create the MLB draft a important thing. At least I was half right.

@@masonsnowden6825 Trout could never play again and he'd probably still have a better career than Harper.

Exactly basketball tbh is more dumb down. Where it’s who can make more shots. Where baseball it’s all about strategy into getting runs in preventing runs. As it’s so team driven a relief pitcher is as important as any closer.

@@injectsql hahaha right? Basically his argument is "In basketball you shoot the ball a lot to hope to score more points than your opponent" Oh you mean like just about every sport (and tons of games) in existence? And those big men just throw the ball around with hope and luck? Shit I don't care for basketball but those players put an immense amount of effort in to defense and moving as a team, it's not all just practicing "putting a ball in a hole"

Yeah exactly they are 2 totally different sports

@@SaltoDaKid if basketball is who can make more shots baseball is hit the ball over the fence and win

@@SaltoDaKid baseball is fundamentally harder but basketball utilizes a lot more strategy. You could wing it in baseball a little but in basketball strategy is the difference between the Sacramento kings and the Memphis grizzlies. Both teams have a similar amount of compiled talent(even tho ja accounts for a lot of the grizzlies talent and is a no doubt superstar).

Did you buy into the hype?

Hi

Hi

Thank you!

tony gwyi

fr i was confused when he said tony gwynn jr

I was so confused lmao

Whoops! They were next to each other in the lineup

Yeah 2011 was amazing lol

kemp was so gross against lefty pitching it was insane, 2011 was so memorable

@@LUCKIPUP even hearing into the first month if 2012 he was able to be red hot. Injuries robbed us of a damn good 5 tool player

Thanks!

Over hated and underrated.

I love him, he's no mike trout but nobody is. He is the definition of a 5 tool player and has some of the best plate discipline I've ever seen. And that swing is so sweet baby..

The Phillies are not regretting a single cent of that contract now. He went OFF last October. Dude hit like .400 with a ton of HR and RBI in clutch moments to send a team to the World Series.

Those are all of the elite players in MLB? That's it? No Acuna, Jr. or Freeman. Harper SHOULD NPT have won the MVP - he does not deserve that title this year

@@Mox3712 WHo do you think should have won it?

@@Mox3712 Oh forgot to mention these guys especially Acuna Jr. went down for the season this past July. I mean it is a close call on who should win the NL MVP for the 2021 season. If Acuna Jr. stayed healthy throughout the season, he could have a better chance of claiming the award.

@@Mox3712 Harper led the MLB in most offensive stats. He definitely deserved the MVP

@@poopscoop4907 Harper led the league in SLG and OPS. He was dominated by Soto and Tatis in many categories including WAR. Since they had no problem giving the MVP to a guy on a losing team then Soto 100% deserved it more and arguably Tatis above him. Harper should have finished 3rd. If you want to give the MVP to a "playoff" team then it should have been Austin Riley. Harper had a great season but not really an MVP season. Overall the NL had an odd offensive season. If Tatis played all season he would have won it hands down. The drama of him acting out towards the end of the season probably hurt him. But take a look at Soto's batting like and realize he did it with a bad team around him.

The Nats vastly overperformed in 2019. People can say what they want but Harper leaving was the best choice for him. There was zero and I mean zero people who had them pegged as a playoff team, much less a World Series contender.

@@i.theworstguys298 Hm perhaps. Thank you for being respectful!

Doesn't matter. Washington has Soto. Soto is going to end his career as one of the greatest offensive players ever at the rate he is going. As long as they have Soto they won't miss Harper at all.

@@i.theworstguys298 Predictions by outsiders mean little. I really hope that didn't impact his decision, that would be dumb. Granted, I firmly believe the 19 Nats don't win it all if harper stays in DC.

@@fromulus I think that’s fair but I’m more of the opinion that baseball predictors aren’t quite fitted for the modern MLB to begin with. You have to admit that the 2019 season was lightning in a bottle. Starting the season 19-31 through the 1st 50 games in 2019 and finishing at 26-34 through 60 in 2020. And the only notable FA they lost was Rendon yet they were more or less on the same pace through 50-60. But then you get into conversations like ‘how often does the objectively best baseball team actually win the World Series’ which is a conversation for much smarter people.

His bat is special for any position. If he stays healthy enough through the end of his contract and considering he's in his prime right now (only 29 years old), he'll have 600 home runs, 600 doubles, 1,700 runs, 1,600 RBI, 1,700 walks, a .400 OBP, and .900 OPS... and that could possibly be short-selling those numbers if he has a 3-5 year run where he goes off. He had a couple of underwhelming batting average years and that's what made many people sour on his "hype", but even his worst overall year was above league averages. Make no mistake, he's tracking to be in very elite company for all-time offensive players. His first MVP in 2015 is the best non-Barry Bonds season of the last 20 years (yes, even better than the best seasons of Trout, Pujols, Miggy, A-Rod, etc)... and he's not done. I think he's found his home in Philly, he's seemed to have matured a lot ever since he got married and had a couple of kids... I think he's got 2 or 3 more MVP years in him.

It would have been interesting to see

Yo Bryce what’s up man!

Doubtful

@@Mox3712 One of only 32 players ever with multiple MVPs, best offensive season of the decade (and probably since Bonds). Since Harper turned 29 on October 16th, the most relevant comparison is to look at how he’s doing compared to others through their “age 28” seasons. Using the biggest “fame-producing” statistic (home runs), only 16 players had more than Harper’s 267 home runs through the end of their age 28 seasons. If you extrapolate his 13 taters from the 2020 COVID season into a full campaign, he would be 14th all-time. If you make another “through age 28” list, Harper is one of just 32 players in baseball history to post a WAR of 40 or more with an OPS+ of 140 or more Which Version of Bryce Harper will we see in the Next Seven-Ten Years? The 2015 version of Bryce Harper is an all-time great, a no-doubt Hall of Famer. The 2016 and 2018 versions, which featured prolonged slumps, were not of Cooperstown caliber. The 2021 version (179 OPS+, 5.9 WAR), if duplicated for 3 or 4 seasons, would also result in a Hall of Fame plaque. Given that, barring a career-ending injury, Harper is likely to be on the field for 10 more seasons, he would only need one or two more seasons of this caliber, with some more 2019-type seasons to fill in the statistical resume. There are analysts with far more sophisticated tools than I who can more accurately predict a player’s future (Bill James, FanGraphs’ Dan Szymborski), but I’m going to do some very crude hypotheticals here. Look at it this way: let’s imagine that Bryce Harper precisely duplicates his average performance of the last three seasons over the next ten years and retires when his contract expires. In this hypothetical scenario, I’m going to presume that one out of every three of these seasons is shortened (as 2020) for injury-related reasons. By doing this, I’m giving credit for a huge year but also assuming that he’s going to have some rough ones. What would his career statistics look like? To find out all we have to do is multiply his average season from 2019-21 by ten and add it to his current numbers. Here’s the “retire after age 38 season” hypothetical: 81.1 WAR, 547 HR, 1,522 RBI, 2,443 hits, approx 146 OPS+ That’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer. Here’s another hypothetical: what if Harper never has another year like his 2021 campaign? What if the rest of his career mirrors 2019-2020 only, which would mean that he only averages 108 games played per season for the rest of his career. That seems uncommonly harsh but it accounts for some aging, so let’s see where that gets us: 72.1 WAR, 507 HR, 1,332 RBI, 2,283 hits, 137 OPS+ That's HOF numbers as well Most of this material is taken or learned from online sources. Harper is very likely going to be a hall of famer

@@tonybleau6219 Outstanding work on this. Wanna really make things interesting? Take Harper and Trout's career numbers and compare them for each thru their age 28 seasons. The HR, doubles, hits, etc. are not as far off in-comparison as you may think. Trout has been a CF and has taken a lot of damage to his body and Harper has had injuries but been overall healthier the last couple of years. Harper's body may be better for continued performance into their 30s (thinner frame and gets power from a still powerful base). Trout's body is like Griffey's and may breakdown more sadly (I SURE HOPE NOT). But we may be looking at some key MLB career counting stats in 10 years (like HR, doubles, hits) and see Harper with more career totals than Trout. Stranger things have happened.

@@tonybleau6219 what if he has more seasons below his average? It's more than reasonable to assume he will, especially once he reaches the mid-30s.

@@fromulus I already took that into account if you read what I wrote. And even my high estimate is taking aging into account and him averaging only 108 games a season. He's very likely a HOF

Well it’s hard to be the “goat”!

Well the nationals won the World Series without Harper so I think it’s best if he neve me resigned

We will never know!

It was good enough to win Rookie of the Year and is widely considered the best season by a teenager in history.

Yeah it is bro, we are all so used to it now

lol that's funny. Really funny - Harper sucks bawls

@@Mox3712 Wow man you couldn't have picked a worse year to say this.

@@andrerogers3196 he's proving your point lmao

He's definitely underrated if you go by public perception

@@andrerogers3196 well that and 2015.

Yessir! Hopefully we see him holding a WS trophy up next year!

Ummm do you know how much money these guys make ? Deserve better , I don’t think it gets better .

That has more to do with the Nationals FO and Organization than it has to do with Trout. If this was basketball I would understand but one player can’t carry a franchise in baseball. I mean no one brings up Bonds career being “wasted” on the Giants cause they made one run in 2002.

@@fuccckckkkkckkck umm before bonds got to the giants, he was leading the pirates to the playoffs so your whole giants theory is trash.. terrible comparison.. and personal success and team success goes hand in hand and by everything combined, Harper has been better..

Interesting point

Right he aint Lebron That would be Mike Trout I think hes more a James Harden

Giancarlo Stanton put an end to that

Your talking out your ass.

Couldn’t agree more man

Because everyone is waiting for him the be Mike Trout.

He's literally the MVP...better means what, Unanimous MVP? All he needs is a good leadoff hitter who gets on base and another big bat and his RBI and even run numbers will inflate

whose bruce hoper? You mean bryce harper?