Bryce Harper will come up on Saturday. Did he earn the promotion? No. Not at all. He had a decent past week but he's hit 1 homer in 20 games and he's getting killed against lefties. Is it bothersome that the kid is getting this handed to him without earning it? I guess. But really what it comes down to is how he performs when he's here. If he hits, no one will care unless he's a total ass. If he hits great. no one will care, period.
I'm not big on the whole "it's too early to bring the kid up" thing. If he's going to be good, he's going to be good. The important thing to remember, as far as I'm concerned, is that it's just money. Assuming the Nats didn't hold him down for a whole another year (which isn't necessarily a bad idea the way he's hitting, but then again it probably depresses team expectations for a few games in the key year of 2013), all this does is make him eligible for a Super 2. All that means is that the Nats will have to spend more money to keep him during his years before free agency.
This isn't a win NOW move. If they wanted to win more NOW, all stats say Tyler Moore would have helped the team more in the immediate future. What it is is an "let's get ready for 2013, and maybe we get lucky in 2012 move" and I don't see anything wrong with that. Didn't cost the Nats a year of Bryce. Just money.
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It's not my money, and it'll almost certainly create the Strasmas type atmosphere that attracts more fans to the home games. The Lerner's probably aren't going to lose any money over this either.
And on a gut level, it makes me more excited about the team. I agree that Moore might have helped more immediately, but I wouldn't have had the same feeling if he was the one called up.
It's excitement, pure and simple.
I am just glad that they brought up an OF and not someone to play 3rd. That means Lomba will stay in the lineup and keep the pressure on Desi and and Espy. This also means we can keep the older bats on the bench more often. I am not necessarily a fan of bringing The Kid up this quick, but why not? right?
Well... it makes sense. I don't like it but it makes sense. I've been wondering how long they were going to keep mixing and matching the outfield. .171, .149 and .091 aren't cutting out there, I don't think he can do too much worse. They need a bat in left until Morse is healthy. Ankiel is making a push to stay in the OF but the other then that it's avg fielding and below avg hitting. I doubt he'll go down when ZMN comes back (his shoulder has looked bad since game 1). Personally think he should have started the year in AA and maybe be pushing for AAA right now but what do I know...
Nice stat during the broadcast, Nat's left fielders are dead last in every offensive category. Harper's currently in the same class defensively as the rest of them and it'd be Dunn-like to hit worse. I'm most curious to see if he plays every day or sits against LHP this first (hopefully last) time up.
Chaos
Yeah, thus far DeRosa/Bernie/etc. have really not gotten the job done at all, so Harper doesn't have to clear a huge bar to at least be an improvement over what the Nationals have playing now. Hopefully, he'll be more than that.
The real question is, if he's not hitting, does he go back to AAA when Morse returns? Morse/Werth/Harper is clearly the best OF in an ideal situation, but the Nats may end up with Morse/Ankiel/Werth being the best "right now" choice if Harper isn't adjusting to major league pitching.
I like what Bryce and Strasberg did on Day 1 together -- with help from ALR. Almost pulled it off.
3-3 on this road trip? Hope so.
Great game by Strausburg and nice composure shown by Harper. I know Kemp is crazy good right now but what a complete meltdown by Henry Rodriguez. Oh boy...
Will we get 3-3? or are those other cracks in the sky I see...
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