ESPN MLB Conversation

SoonerBro

Harper's gonna be a thrill for MLB for the next 20 years. He's got a little Ty Cobb, Pete Rose, George Brett and Will Clark in him. The misconception is that he's "not old school." When actually he's exactly "old school." No cookie-cutter cliche-machine here. He's gonna be brash, in-yo-face, and everyone is not going to love him. But most importantly he has an unquenchable passion to play. That's why he's gonna be impossible to ignore. Baseball needs more of these types.
363 Days ago

zito2525

I might be a biased Nats fan but I think Harper is going to be better than Trout. I also think it's crazy how little ESPN mentions what Trout is doing so far. As of right now they are pretty much even in ABs, runs, 2Bs, and Walks. Harper has more triples. Trout has more HR, and RBI and a better avg, obp, and slugging %. Their stats aren't way different but Trout does have a slight edge. ESPN barely mentions him. I watched the ESPN coverage of Nats/ Phillies tonight and they basically just showed all of Harper's ABs and every time he touched the ball in the field. MLB network's highlights actually focused on the game. ESPN has become a sports version of TMZ. They act like a 15 yr old girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Tebowmania and Linsanity have become the norm for ESPN. Get back to covering sports.
363 Days ago

thekmanknows

Zack Cozart is Rookie of the Year. Accept it and go on. They're not going to give that award to somebody on a 4th-place team. Sheesh. You people drive me nut. Here's a dollar. Buy a clue.
363 Days ago

jimjam1234

Harper just led off the 4th inning by drawing a walk after falling behind 1-2 in the count, then he tagged from first on a flyout to get himself into scoring position. Gotta love watching this kid play!
364 Days ago

jimjam1234

This kid hustles harder than anyone in the game. He tries to beat out every grounder and already has three triples. The homers will come, he's only 19 for crying out loud. And he's not some 19-year-old Latin player who's been pro since he was 14. He's going to be a great player one day. And stop comparing him to Mike Trout. Trout is a year and four months older than Harper. Compare Harper next year at this time to Trout right now and I can go for that.
364 Days ago

thekmanknows

Maybe he will be OK once he stops hitting himself in the head with his bats. What a doofus.
364 Days ago

rpin29

How about showing some love for Mike Trout? He's the real deal. Much better than Harper!
364 Days ago

JACKPOT55

Harper has done nothing to show he is going to be great yet. Right now he is playing below average for a major league player
364 Days ago

thekmanknows

I'm out. GO REDS!
364 Days ago

BTrade1030

Have to say I kinda hate him, but that's just the phils fan in me. If this kid played for philly, people would be going nuts for him, best young player i've seen since griffey, jr.
364 Days ago

hokiestim

like Rogosh said. The Nats are in 1st of thier division and the Angels are last, therfore a first place team rookie deserves more coverage about a rookie then a last team plave team does,
364 Days ago

thekmanknows

They will finish fourth.
364 Days ago

yankees3355

It's so amazing how ESPN goes on these love fests with prospects. Harper will be a stud for many years to come but he isn't the best rookie star in the league right now, Mr. Trout is. You rarely if ever hear anything about him but Harper has Top Story articles every third day. I miss the days where ESPN just covered sports and not all things Lebron, Brady, Kobe, Tebow and Papi. Now throw Harper into that mix. Watch a regular day of SC(not during the playoffs) and you will see more coverage about Leborn tying his shoe or Brady getting a haircut than you will see for all the hockey highlights combined.
364 Days ago

sportsfanatic1919

Neither of them was on the cover of SI at 16 though.
364 Days ago

quigley221987

Trout is good and will be a pain for years for the Rangers however the ROY is Yu Darvish.
364 Days ago

away0921

Very fun kid to watch play, reminds me a bit of Griffey when he was a kid as far as his all around game is concerned. I must say though, I do get a kick out of all of the coverage that Bryce gets yet Mike Trout (whos stats are curently better than Harper's) gets very little coverage.
364 Days ago

OUVan59

Trout is a year older and isn't even eligible for ROY because he played 40 games last year (.220/.281/.390). Not trying to knock Trout because he is going to be a Superstar but you aren't comparing apples to apples wtih the two. As for Harper, I think the thing about him that has suprised me most is his plate discipline.
363 Days ago

Hyte

Griffey? You made that determination in the 15 games he played in the MLB? Griffey is Arguably one of the greatest all around Outfielders to ever play the game. in his fist year playing the outfield he only had 3 errors. Bryce already has 2. Bryce may be a good hitter MAYBE comparable to Griffy, however his defense will never be as good.
364 Days ago

waswas11

i mean you can't really talk about harper's defense yet because he just started playing outfield when he got to the minors. He was seen as an amazing catcher, but everyone agreed that his bat was so good that you didn't want to have him not be able to be in the lineup every day and possibly shorten his productive years (see: Joe Mauer) by leaving him behind the plate. He has one of the best arms in the league already (better than Griffey's) and is one of the fastest players in the league right now. Anyone who has played outfield as I did knows that it is really all about speed, general coordination, and getting reps. He has the first two already and the third will just take time.
364 Days ago

rogosh

Well, I live outside of DC and I've seen a lot of articles about Trout this year and last. Heck, he and Harper played on the same AFL team. And if the Angels were a first place team, they would be getting a lot of attention in the way of feature stories. Pretty much all the extra stories have been about Albert's struggles. The Nats are playing on ESPN tonight so they are getting coverage today. Harper is the best story on the Nats right now other than the starting pitching. If you had to decide what to feature, Harper or Edwin Jackson (tonight's starter), which would you profile?
364 Days ago

yankees3355

Harper got more media coverage coming out of high school than Trout did last year in the bigs. There were updates all the time about Harper in the minor leagues, how he was doing, what he did wrong, what he did right ect... Trout got regular rookie attention last year while Harper is getting rock star attention. They don't even compare.
364 Days ago

rogosh

Essentially, Trout in his second year of experience, has 5 more hits than Harper in the same number of chances. Trout 84 AB, .333/.402/.571/.973, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 11 BB, 23 K, 6 SB, 1 CS Harper 87 AB, .264/.343/.471/.815, 6 2B, 3 3B, 2 HR, 10 BB, 18 K, 2 SB, 2 CS I think the fact that this is Harper's first time in the majors is the reason why he gets so much attention. Trout was the new kid last year, Harper is this year. The newness will wear off and he will be judged on production not hype. Both Harper and Trout will be stars for years and will probably be measured against one another for their careers.
364 Days ago

HOFMEMBER

He's like a young Derek Jeter with more talent. He handles himself well and should be a very good big leaguer for a long time. I enjoy watching him play.
364 Days ago

amammano

I can't wait until 6 years from now when he's a Yankee.
5 Days ago

waswas11

the one scary thing though is that Harper was a HUGE yankees fan. He got a lot of flack one time for wearing a yankees hat somewhere after he was already in the nationals organization
364 Days ago

rogosh

Remember, the Nats owners are the richest owners in baseball. Plus the RSN money is about to go from $29M to around $90M. If the Nats want him, they will be able to lock him up with a Tulo like deal in 2 years. I don't think he would turn down 10 years for $200M at the age of 21 or 22. He is under Nats control until 2018 for $10M plus arbitration, maybe $50M total. If they offer him a huge contract extension in 2015 I think he would take it.
364 Days ago

propdaddy2002

Not a Yankee fan, but that "can't wait until he's a Yankee" line gets me every time.
4 Days ago

stan62821

Hope not
5 Days ago

finklewink77

I love this guy. I know its really early to tell but finally a young guy that isnt being arrogant. He is playing his own game and hustling.
5 Days ago

waswas11

what does that mean?
364 Days ago