Kuzul

The 2012 MLB All-Star Game received another dose of youth on Saturday afternoon when Bryce Harper was tapped to replace Giancarlo Stanton.

Stanton was removed following a Friday injury and is slated for knee surgery on Sunday, July 8.

Harper joins a colorful list of rookie All-Stars. While he will be the youngest position player of all time, he is not the youngest All-Star.

But he’s close.

Following is a list of 10 of the youngest players to make the MLB All-Star roster.

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Almost immediately after news broke that Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton will miss the All-Star Game due to a knee surgery (h/t Joe Frisaro, MLB.com), there was breaking news out that young Bryce Harper will replace Stanton in the game (h/t Dayn Perry, CBSsports.com). This makes Harper the youngest position player to ever become an All-Star, and the third-youngest player overall.

While Harper, just age 19, has come up and done a good job for the injury-plagued Nationals to help keep the team in first place, this All-Star selection is a farce. This article takes a look at exactly why Bryce Harper being named an All-Star is a total farce by Major League Baseball.

Before I get into this article I just wanted to give a disclaimer that I am personally a fan of Harper and his ability. I’ve seen him in person and believe he will become a huge star in time. However, he hasn’t earned a spot in the All-Star Game in 2012.

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Giancarlo Stanton was set to play in the 2012 All-Star Game, but with upcoming knee surgery, he will not only miss the game, he will also miss the next four to six weeks, according to The Miami Herald.

Replacing Stanton in the All-Star Game will be Washington Nationals phenom Bryce Harper. Harper will become the third-youngest player in All-Star Game history. The two that were younger than him were Bob Feller and Dwight Gooden.

Harper’s addition to the All-Star Game is a big accomplishment for him this early in his career and it should be fun to see how he performs.

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Born October 16, 1992 and currently 19 years old, Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper will become the youngest position player ever to make an MLB All-Star Game (barring unforeseen circumstances) after he was selected to replace Miami Marlins outfielder Giancarlo Stanton. 

Amanda Comak, Nationals beat reporter for the Washington Times, reports via Twitter:

Bryce Harper will replace Mike Stanton on the NL All-Star team.

— Amanda Comak (@acomak) July 7, 2012

Stanton has missed time this season with a right knee injury, which forced him to leave the Marlins’ July 7 matchup with the St. Louis Cardinals when the knee continued to bother him. CBS Sports reported via Twitter that he will miss over a month. 

Giancarlo Stanton to undergo knee surgery, miss 4-6 weeks cbsprt.co/N5eHw0 via @cbssports

— Eye on Baseball (@EyeOnBaseball) July 7, 2012

Bryce Harper is batting .283 this season with eight home runs and a .479 slugging percentage, helping the struggling Washington franchise turn its fortunes around. The Nationals currently sit in first in the NL East standings.

The outfielder is considered to be the most promising fielding prospect in decades and has lived up to the hype thus far. As noted by Matt Breen of the Washington Post, Harper was called up to the majors on April 27 and has not missed a single game since.

Harper was in contention for the final spot on the NL roster, but St. Louis Cardinals third baseman David Freese came out on top in the Final Vote.

Harper has done nothing but silence his critics since becoming the No. 1 overall selection in the 2010 draft by the Washington Nationals. The 6’3”, 225-pound teenager is on track to meet the near-impossible expectations placed on him as the All-Star selection shows.

He has not shied away from pressure thus far and will now get a chance to perform on one of baseball’s biggest stages.

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Washington Nationals rookie Bryce Harper must be on the National League All-Star roster set to be announced on Sunday afternoon.

The 19-year-old right fielder has been a huge reason why the Nationals lead the New York Mets by 3 1/2 games in the NL East two months into the regular season. 

Harper is batting just .280 this season, but has an impressive eight home runs and 22 RBIs to his name after just 55 games with Washington and 214 appearances at the plate. 

Harper ranks 30th in the National League in batting average heading into July, 25th in on base percentage (.354) and 26th in slugging percentage (.486). Only Adam LaRoche ranks higher than Harper among Washington players this season with at least 3.1 plate appearances per game in slugging percentage.

Harper leads all other qualified hitters on the Nationals team in batting average and on base percentage. With that being said, one can make the argument that Harper has been Washington’s most consistent and important player so far in the regular season.

Harper’s .965 fielding percentage is second best on the team among players that have started more than 16 games, behind only Ian Desmond.

Although there are plenty of deserving names in the National League this season, it’s hard to find another player who has made as much of an impact as Bryce Harper has with the Washington Nationals in 2012. 

His fearless play as a teenage rookie in the Major Leagues has been refreshing to watch. His production and impact clearly warrant an All-Star nod this July. 

With that being said, it would be an absolute travesty for Harper to miss out on the NL All-Star roster on Sunday. 

Follow Bleacher Report Featured Columnist Patrick Clarke on Twitter for more reaction and opinion on the 2012 MLB All-Star Voting.

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Washington Nationals manager Davey Johnson’s leadership, Bryce Harper‘s rising stock, and Stephen Strasburg‘s arm appear to have the Nats on a fast moving ride to the 2012 Major League Baseball Playoffs. The team made some strategic and painful decisions, but it’s paying off. Barring any unforeseen events, the players are built for a run in the postseason.

Lets start with Bryce, Bryce, Baby. Harper is batting a shade under .300 and is a clear All-Star this year. There’s no debate there if he’s judged on the first half of the season.  He has 50 hits and counting. You have undoubtedly heard that the kid is 19 years old. It looks like he has the complete package.

Harper is more mature as a baseball player than most teenagers his age. He proved that when he told the reporter, “That’s a clown question bro’.” He didn’t step into the trap the reporter may or may not have been setting on drinking at a younger age in other countries. He handled it well, and for that he deserves recognition.

I’ll be honest. I’m on the bandwagon. If it isn’t his team, it will be soon. Forget about the age. he possesses the attitude of the great Pete Rose. Assertive and aggressive is a good thing if you’re a hot-shot major league baseball star. And yes, I said it!  Bryce Harper is a baseball star.

He clearly has the talent. He has a rough edge, when needed, and that’s a good thing. Many major league teams are looking for a Bryce Harper. The Nats were in the right place at the right time.

Harper reminds me of Pete Rose. They have a similar body type, an NFL cornerback mold. He’s medium height, with stocky shoulders, and rough. If you kids don’t know about Rose and Cleveland Indians catcher Ray Fosse during a 1970’s era All-Star game, look it up. That’s what I mean by rough.

The Kid also has the confidence of a young Rose. He’s never intimidated. It doesn’t matter if it’s an opposing player, the media, or his own bat! He’ll keep coming at you at 100 miles per hour. Like Rose, he knows no other way: all-or-nothing. That’s usually the attitude of a winner. Which brings me to manager Davey Johnson.

I’ll admit, I didn’t like the way he came into the picture. Former manager Jim Riggleman was kicked to the curb. It smelled bad and looked even worse. But it’s the reality if everyone has moved on, and that’s a good thing. Johnson has definitely moved on and in a big way!

Johnson has the team looking like it’s playoff quality, and that says a lot given where they’ve come from over the past few years. Teams losing 100 games a year usually don’t turn it around like the Nats have, but that’s exactly what General Manager Mike Rizzo has done. He ignored the haters out there, and it paid off. And boy were there haters. If you lose 100 games in a season, the haters are part of the territory, unfortunately.

Johnson is one of the most respected baseball minds in history. He’s has the playing career to back it up. Those 1970’s Baltimore Orioles teams were some of the best in MLB history, and Johnson was the starting second baseman. He’s been there, and some.

The 1970’s Orioles had several 20-game winners, a Hall of Fame third baseman in Brooks Robinson, a fiery manager, and World Series accomplishment. Johnson knows how to win and that’s contagious with a young team like the Nat’s. The kids like rings. They like winning. They like championships. This group looks special.

Too bad it didn’t work out for Johnson as manger of the O’s. He got them into the playoffs in the late 90’s, but it wasn’t enough for Owner Peter Angelos. Johnson left, and the O’s went into a steep decline and only recently began climbing out of the cellar. I suspect Angelos feels he made a mistake.

Davey can pull out the World Series ring and show the kids what it looks like; what it feels like. That’s a lot. Many managers can’t do that, at least not yet. Pat Riley pulls out his Lakers Championship rings if he has to make a point. It is quite effective.

In the eyes of many, Strasburg may be the best pitcher in baseball, if not in the top 3. His commanding pitching style is something we don’t see that often in this league. They come around every now and then. He has “it.” Every team needs an ace, Strasburg is all that and a helluva lot more.

He throws in the mid-to-high 90’s and appears untouchable at times. The velocity is hard to contend with if you’re a hitter. How can anyone hit that? It seems almost impossible. Occasionally, he’ll have a rough outing, but very few teams have been able to hit his pitching with any consistency.

If you’re going to make it to the playoffs, you’ll need pitching. Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez are winning games. They’re on a roll and moving fast. With two solid signal callers and a couple of role players on the pitching staff, they look good to go.

Desmond, LaRoche, and the boys are red hot. it looks like a new team. Perhaps it was a matter of the team coming together, finally, with new, solid dugout leadership. It could be the continued development of a young dominating pitcher. Maybe it is the infusion of a young aggressive teenager into the outfield.

Perhaps it’ll be a combination of all of the above that has Washington D.C. fans gearing up for the playoffs in the Nation’s Capital.

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Bryce Harper is a lifelong fan of the New York Yankees, and speculation swirled when he was drafted that he’d someday like to play for his favorite team.

On June 29, he instantly put all those rumors to rest:

You look at Cal Ripken. You look at Derek Jeter. You look at all the greats that played for one team their whole career. I want to be like that. I’ve always wanted to be like that. I’ve always wanted to play with that same team.

Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post gives a fantastic, full-length look at Harper’s daily life in Washington, looking into the much smaller details of why Harper loves the city.

Harper may be just 19 years old, but he knows exactly where he wants to be 15 years down the line. Kilgore put it best in his story:

[Harper] remains a 19-year-old who could be in college but is instead living alone in a top-story apartment in Pentagon City, a $9.9 million contract in his pocket and a $20 Weber grill on the balcony. He does his own laundry, except when his father visits. When he is bored, he goes shopping in Georgetown. He thinks of Washington as home with a surprising—or, for the Nationals and their fans, encouraging—degree of permanence.

Harper truly appreciates Washington and the fans of the Nationals and wants to do everything possible to give back to them, as well as others in need of assistance.

Take his “clown question, bro” statement. Just for fun, the Denver Beer Company created a beer with the same name—a beer that Harper himself is not old enough to drink.

On June 25, Harper learned of Denver-area police officer Celena Hollis, a woman who was killed in the line of duty. She left behind a 12-year-old daughter that she cared for on her own.

Harper’s response was to suggest that the profits be donated from the just-for-fun beer to a memorial fund to support Hollis’ daughter.

Charitable acts like this will do well to keep Harper in good standing with the city and MLB fans nationwide, although he is not just going out of his way to be charitable.

Ron Harper, Bryce’s father, believes that his son is “as loyal as they come” and says that his son spoke of Washington as his home.

With Harper comfortable in Washington, there’s good reason to believe that his production will only continue to improve.

As of Saturday morning, Harper owns a line of .280/.354/.486 with eight home runs and 22 RBI.

Harper has been a savior for Washington, both on and off the field. He, the Nationals and the city will continue to enjoy great things for as long as Harper wears the red, navy and white.

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I think we can just about call the “Clown Question, Bro” meme good and dead now. 

Like too many people thinking they can carry Call Me Maybe to fame, we have one too many Bryce Harper impressions on the open market now. 

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid volleyed a question like a true bro recently, and it had the correspondents in stitches. 

USA Today reports Reid was asked about the DREAM Act and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell by Roll Call reporter Steven T. Dennis. 

Reid paused and let the twinkle in his eye shine for all. He thought to himself, this is it. This is the moment I have been waiting a lifetime for. 

Reid, for a moment, was the funny kid in class. 

The report says Reid is an avid fan of Washington Nationals star Bryce Harper, the outfielder who made the phrase, “clown question, bro” a sensation.

Now that the phrase is being used by 72-year-old senators, we can pretty much cease and desist form ever having to mutter the phrase. 

The moment was clever and funny. I chuckled along with the rest of you, but I am telling you all to stop right now. 

The virus that is Call Me Maybe parodies continues to spread; we don’t need another epidemic. 

Follow me on Twitter for a hunky-dory time. 

Follow @gabezal

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Since bursting onto the scene on April 28^th, Bryce Harper has taken the baseball world by storm with his all-out style, rocket arm and most importantly, willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

Still only 19 years old, Harper is undoubtedly one of the most exciting players in all of baseball, capable of making a highlight reel in a multitude of ways on a nightly basis.

It’d be tough to argue that the phenom hasn’t lived up to the absurd expectations that began when he appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old, and has since followed his rapid ascent to the major leagues.

In fact, one could even make the case that if the season ended today, Harper’s outstanding numbers and role in reversing the Washington Nationals’ fate would garner National League Rookie of the Year honors.

Playing in 44 games this season, Harper is batting .294/.370/.524 in 192 plate appearances with seven home runs, four stolen bases and 19 RBI. More importantly, Harper has registered a 1.5 fWAR (FanGraphs WAR), which is tied for second in the National League with the Mets’ Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and trails only the Reds’ Zack Cozart (1.8).

Still, it’s important to note that Harper has posted such marks in nearly 20 games less than both players. And oh yeah, he’s five years younger than Nieuwenhuis (24) and seven years younger than Cozart (26).

Here’s a statistical look at how Harper compares to other notable rookies in the National League:

As you can see, Harper is leading all National League rookies in nearly every offensive statistic, a true testament to the impact that he has made in his first 44 games with the Nats.

But while Harper may be tearing it up at the plate, the race for N.L. Rookie of the Year becomes a bit more complicated when considering the performances of Wade Miley (Diamondbacks) and Lance Lynn (Cardinals).

Miley, a left-hander, has arguably been the Diamondbacks’ top pitcher over the last month, as he currently owns an 8-3 record, 2.30 ERA and 3.72 xFIP over 82.1 innings pitched. Overall, Miley’s outstanding season thus far has resulted in a 2.3 fWAR.

And then there’s Lance Lynn, the savior of the Cardinals’ rotation who may very well be headed to his first All-Star Game in July. Making 13 starts this season, the 6’5″ 250-pound right-hander has posted a 10-2 record, 2.42 ERA, 3.24 xFIP and 9.48 K/9 over 81.2 innings. Lynn’s dominance thus far has resulted in a 2.0 fWAR.

Here is a side-by-side comparison of the two:

While an argument can be made for either Lynn or Miley to be the National League Rookie of the Year (if the season ended today, that is), I firmly believe that the award should still go to Harper. What he’s done at 19 years old both on a statistical level, as well as the impact his performance has had on the Nationals as a whole, is almost unprecedented.

Furthermore, a position player who is able to contribute at a high level for 130-140 games in a given season needs to be considered significantly more valuable than a pitcher who takes the mound every five days and tallies roughly 30 starts per season—assuming that they stay healthy.

The same philosophy should be translated in a similar manner for the present argument, as 44 games played must be considered far more valuable than a starter who has made 10-15 starts thus far.

Would Harper be the N.L. Rookie of the Year if the season ended today? Please. That’s a clown question, bro.

Bryce Harper is a generational talent performing at a high level on baseball’s biggest stage. Who knows? If the Nationals ultimately make the playoffs, we may be having the same discussion regarding the phenom’s MVP candidacy.

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Bryce Harper continues to improve with every game that he plays, as does every one of the Washington Nationals.

After the Nats were swept in Miami at the hands of the Marlins, they have won eight of their last ten and the last five in a row.

Harper got the Nationals on the board in their latest victory over the Toronto Blue Jays with a mammoth blast in the third inning to give the Nats a 1-0 lead. They never looked back and won the game 4-2.

Many though that the Nats would have issues going against American League teams on the road, but they have proved that that is not an issue. They are coming off a sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park and are on the verge of sweeping the Blue Jays in Toronto. 

The Nats biggest challenge might come when the red-hot New York Yankees make their way into Nationals Park this weekend.

The Nationals are quickly becoming one of the best teams in the league and their dominance over the American League helps the Nats in the argument of who the best team in the MLB is.

The pure brilliance of Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez give the Nats two Cy Young candidates in the front end of their rotation. It is hard to find a starting five that can contend with the Nationals’ five.

Their lineup continues to surprise, even with Michael Morse still getting back in the swing of things since returning from his season-long DL stint. 

The one person in the lineup who has been a sure thing has been Harper and he is crucial to the success of this team. He is hitting .307 with seven home runs this season and provided the spark that this team needed.

It might be too early to tell, but thus far the Nats are passing every test in their pursuit to show the rest of the baseball world that they are the best team in the league.

Follow @NargOnSports

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