Bryce Harper is coming into this 2015 season feeling very confident about the Nationals outlook for the season. The two-time MLB All-Star is going into his 4th season, and feels confident that it can be heis breakout year, providing that he can stay healthy. Harper’s early career numbers have been marred by injuries in each of his first 3 seasons. Harper has missed 106 games in the last 2 seasons, but he has delivered for the Nationals in the playoffs. In 4 games last postseason, Harper batted .294 with an on base percentage of .368 and 3 monster homeruns.
Harper is still young, and even has kind of embraced his position in life as a professional athlete:
“I’m 22 years old playing the game I love,” he said. “I mean, that’s it. . . . I’m not sitting behind a desk, at school or doing anything like that. I’m playing baseball. That’s good enough for me. I have my family that loves me dearly, I’m able to come in here in this clubhouse with a team that loves me every single day and of course I want to be the best I can for this organization, this team and I put more pressure on myself than anybody in this world. That’s why I work hard every single day and do the things that I do, so I can get better and play better.
“To be able to have a guy like Scherzer come in, I just started laughing,” Harper said. “I was like, ‘Where’s my ring.’ It’s absolutely stupid how good our staff is. To add a Cy Young (Award winner), to add a guy that is unbelievable. . . . If you had to go into a five-game set against a team you’re going to have to face (Jordan) Zimmermann, (Doug) Fister, Scherzer and Stras (Stephen Strasburg). Good luck. I mean, because that’s insane. Going into that I’m crying. It’s hilarious having to go in there and face them. We have the best staff in all of baseball, I don’t care what anybody says.”
Now that Bryce Harper is coming into his own as an up-and-coming star in Major League Baseball and growing into his “Grown Man” body, he should start to show some promise on all of those scouts who predicted him to be the next great “5-tool” prospect.
h/t USA Today