When the Cubs and Nationals squared off for the first time this season on Memorial Day, each team featured their own version of a baseball phenom.
Bryce Harper and Kris Bryant don’t seem like identical players off the top of the head, but the list of similarities between the two players is quite a long one.
Both grew up in the Las Vegas area, where they played with—on the same travel team, called the Ballbusters—and against each other since they were nine and seven years old. They also each have keen memories of the other.
“When we were younger, we used to call him ‘Silk,’ because he was so smooth with everything he did,” Harper told reporters before Monday’s game. “He played third, he played short, he played a little outfield. He pitched, and he always hit very well.”
Bryant’s description of Harper back in the day, per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune: “so much bigger and so much stronger than everyone—and better.”
Harper and Bryant both possess prodigious power, although from different sides of the plate. Harper hit a home run measured at 502 feet in a home run derby in high school, and according to his high school coaches he hit one as a freshman that traveled 570 feet.
AS A FRESHMAN!!!
Bryant has his fair share of pop, too. He led the NCAA in 2013 with 31 home runs, and then led all of professional baseball with 43 round-trippers last year.
Both players attended college—Harper at the College of Southern Nevada and Bryant at the University of San Diego—en route to becoming one of the top two picks in the MLB draft.
Also, both young players understand that they need to be compensated for their services, as each of them have the famous Scott Boras as their agent, who is known for demanding top dollar for his clients.
And last but certainly not least is that both players have undergone tremendous hype throughout their careers. Harper has probably been in the spotlight a bit more—especially since he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated at 16—but Bryant was the main topic of conversation when he raked in spring training and then was relegated to the minor leagues to start the season.
However, that is where the similarities end, and there are plenty of differences between the two as well.
The most glaring one is how they carry themselves on and off the field. Harper knows he is the best player on the field most of the time and he is not afraid to say it, while Bryant prefers to let his work do the talking.
Here’s what Bryant said, via Sullivan, about their respective personalities:
I think we have very different personalities, and I think that’s good for the game. It’s good to have guys who wear their heart on their sleeves and he’s one of those guys and it’s awesome to see that. He plays so hard for his team, and I think that’s respectful. He’s very confident and that’s cool to see. I think everybody can learn from that, because to play this game, you have to be confident. You have to believe you’re the best on the field. I do that in a different way, and he does that, and it’s pretty cool to see that.
He sums it up very well. They may have different ways of showing it, but they are both extremely talented on the field.
Harper currently leads the National League in home runs, RBI, runs scored, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS.
Bryant, meanwhile, is getting his first taste of major league pitching, and he is performing superbly. He is hitting .282 with six home runs and 30 RBI—good for an OPS+ of 131, according to Baseball-Reference. The league average is 100, so that stat is a good indicator of what kind of a hitter he has been in his first full month of action.
Finally, there is the age difference. While Harper is basically a big-league veteran by now, he is actually younger than Bryant. Bryant got more time to hone his skills than Harper did, which might be why he is producing so well despite his inexperience in the majors.
Despite their young age, they are already two of the most exciting players in the game. Neither of them are solely power hitters—while they can hit the ball out of the park seemingly any time they want—each of them also hit for a high average, are good runners and are above-average defenders.
Expect these two to headline the MLB for at least the next decade. And considering the talented rosters of both the Nats and Cubs, they may be playing against each other plenty in the future, possibly with a World Series berth on the line.
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