| By Jason A. Churchill |  | By 02-21-2010 |
This year's draft hype is Bryce Harper, a 17-year-old catcher at College of Southern Nevada who left high school before his junior year, got his GED and became draft eligible.
He's a left-handed hitter with big raw power, and if he sticks at catcher is certain to be a tremendous value to the club that drafts him. And no, I'm not assuming he goes 1-1 to the Nationals, because there are some pretty major concerns with Harper.
Personally, I don't think he's going to catch, and I'm certainly not the first to doubt that aspect of Harper's value. He may grow out of the position by adding 25 or 30 pounds to his already 6-foot-4, 205-pound frame, which may eat up too much of his athleticism. Aside from Matt Weiters and Joe Mauer, name a tall catcher who is good defensively.
But to make sure, Harper is likely to start his pro career as a catcher, and will get every opportunity to remain there -- which is the right move, of course.
But he's also playing some third base this year, which is the next spot I'd try him at; then RF, then 1B. His arm is well above average, perhaps a 70 on the 20-80 scouting scale in terms of strength, and has already made ajustments at the plate, designed to help him make contact versus bigger fastballs as well as use the whole field on a more regular basis.
In the video below, taken this past Thursday and Friday at his home ballpark, you'll see Harper taking BP, and then lining an opposite-field double that hit the wall after one hop.
Harper was inconsistent over the weekend, particularly versus the good velocity, but that is to be expected since he's not seen 90-plus mph heaters on a regular basis until now.
One thing to remember as well about Harper's numbers, which are very good right now, is that he's using the wood bat regularly -- CSN plays in one of the few Junior College wood bat leagues. Through the final game of the Coyote Slugout Sunday, Harper went 0-for-2 with two walks, but added a home run to his double Friday night and enters this week hitting .356/.451/.712 with 12 extra-base hits -- four homers. Pretty good for a kid that turned 17 earlier this winter.
The one thing in his swing that I don't like is the right foot trigger he uses, but the consensus is that as long as he doesn't glide too much and can cover the plate he should be fine. I'd worry -- and watch as a coach at CSN and a scout -- that the front foot trigger forces him to shift too much weight to his back leg, which, in theory, would abbreviate his power.
But in general, he's one of the best few high school hitters I have ever seen, he's right there with Travis Snider from the class of 2006, Josh Sale from this year's class, and compares favorably to both, especially considering he's a full year younger than prep seniors.
mlb-draft-video:-bryce-harper
Comments
The following 10 comment(s) for this article are shown below:
| 1. By: SethGrandpa on 02-21-2010 21:51:03 What he does with his right foot does seem odd. He tweaks it so that it momentarily pointing very inward, almost pointing it at the back inner corner of the plate. I'd imagine that's where he gets part of the torque to get the power for turning through the ball, but it seems like it could do wear on the body after sometime or could lead to one freaky mistimed swing that tweaks something. Then again, what the hell do I know about this stuff? |
| 2. By: Jason A. Churchill on 02-21-2010 21:54:43 I'm with ya Seth, but yeah, it could simply be a visual issue, not a technical one. |
| 3. By: bunvt on 02-21-2010 21:56:31 Jason, where does he rate on a power scale right now? Aside from his right foot, watching from his waist up, man I really like that compact-power swing. |
| 4. By: Jason A. Churchill on 02-22-2010 01:29:18 Harper's raw power is probably a 70. He'd have to max out his plate skills for that show up in the SLG PCT, but the pop is there. |
| 5. By: lewis on 02-22-2010 10:59:22 Jason, could you go into what concerns you in his front foot, I don't completely follow. I see his front side turning in and it does seem a bit 'jerky' but isn't that a somewhat common way to get torque and momentum into the ball, and I am not at this point seeing him shift unusually far back. I guess I hear you and other evaluators comment on these issues they see and it might be an opportunity to learn of the down side to some of these techniques...like what would be the down side of gliding foreward out of type of load? Any insight would be very much apreciated. Thanks |
| 6. By: Jason A. Churchill on 02-22-2010 14:21:41 Gliding pulls the hands through. It erases bat speed if the hands aren't pulling themselves through. Too much gliding, that is. And it can also limit plate coverage and the ability to keep the hands back on a breaking ball. And the front foot... it doesn't appear to BE an issue at this stage, and it may not ever be one, at least not again. Lewis, He's made an adjustment that has cut into the backside weigh shift -- but it was not visible to me in any video I had seen from prior to the fix he's made this spring anyway. What I was told by one scout was that Harper would get that foot out a little early sometimes -- and slowly -- thus leaving his balance all on his back foot and leg, losing balance, then transferring the weight all to his front foot. It can cause all kinds of issues. What I saw this weekend was a kid looking to trust his hands/bat speed more, which means he can feel confident that his trigger, the front foot in this case, doesn't need to budge as early. Sacramento State grad and Rockies draft pick Tim Wheeler has a similar thing with his foot, if you're looking for points of reference. |
| 7. By: DMac33 on 02-22-2010 15:31:30 The front foot looks like a timing mechanism to be - at least primarily. There would definitely be concern if there was drift in the foot - but there'd be as much concern about it zapping power as there would be that the timing was messed up (which is going to kill contact rates and power as is). To me, that's a consistent concern with any timing mechanism - and everybody has one to some level. I can also see where there is that weight shift in the timing mechanism onto his backside. However, the shift in weight from the backside through the hitting zone seems fairly fluid to me and doesn't seem rushed or jerky. What would concern me though with the weight shift is how he responds to combinations of pitchers that have above average to plus power and off-speed combination. I could definitely see where the weight shift could get him off-balance against quality off-speed pitches - which he most likely hasn't faced in the high school or really JC levels. |
| 8. By: Jason A. Churchill on 02-22-2010 16:09:16 The first move or two is always about timing, but leg kicks and things like what Harper does are just more visible. While the weight shift is fine, the glide is over-pronounced --- that is something he and coach Chambers are still working on. The swing, in general, will have to get a little shorter if he's to max out the power potential. What's great, however, is that there's nothing messy with his hands at all. |
| 9. By: mauricewilliamsiii on 02-22-2010 18:53:45 There is nothing in that swing that is as ugly as what Micheal Saunders does. Actually that sort of leg action was much more common 50-60 years ago, although someone who is that big should scrap it as it is not needed to generate power and could actually slow down his bat speed. |
| 10. By: Blowgun7 on 02-23-2010 20:42:32 Jason, you got anything on Rafeal Depaula. I see the M's have made him an offer. I know he was a pretty big IFA before he got busted for lying about his age. Still seems to be a very nice prospect if we can add him |
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