[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

If somebody gets through to Harper about playing within himself (and he may have already received the message on his own), look out. I have been watching baseball for a long time, and when I watch Harper, I am so excited by what I see. He is so darned close to being just a monster, and I think 2015 is the year when he puts it all together. People ooo and ah over Trout, and rightfully so. But Harper can hit a baseball to places that Trout will never approach. There are a select few in the Majors that can compete with Bryce Harper's pure power-Giancarlo Stanton and Devin Mesoraco are two that pop into my my mind. Josh Hamilton has that kind of power when he is healthy.

I absolutely admire that Harper goes all out. When he first came up, he was diving for everything, running into the wall to make catches, diving into bases to avoid a tag. But there's a fine line between playing hard, and playing recklessly, and if he's ever going to reach his massive potential, he has to discover how to operate on the right side. He doesn't have to give less than a full effort, but he doesn't need to throw his body around in a manner that gets him hurt.

If Harper reaches his full potential, we're going to see something we haven't seen since Barry Bonds retired. We're going to see a guy at the plate who hits the ball out of the park so often, that pitchers are just going to start walking him. I don't think he'll ever approach the batting averages Bonds did, but there's no reason to think that Harper can't be a .280 + hitter, and walk 130 + times a season. Because if they don't walk him, he's going to hit 50 home runs a year. His bat just explodes through the strike zone unlike any player I've seen. He uses his entire body to generate power. He reminds me of the game footage I've seen of Mantle. They used to say that even Mick's teeth helped him generate power. Well, that could be Harper. I think that will be Harper.

The pure violence (controlled violence) of Harper's swing is awesome... And is a fun contrast to the typically smooth swinging lefties we know and love (Griffey, Clark, Justice, etc). I agree Bill, I think he'll be a monster when he puts it all together, but even as is, is maybe my most- "can't miss at bat" in the game today.