Bryce Harper
Washington Nationals – No. 34
Outfielder
Born: (1992-10-16) October 16, 1992 (age 19) Las Vegas, Nevada
Bats: Left	Throws: Right
MLB debut
April 28, 2012 for the Washington Nationals
Career statistics (through May 30, 2012)
Batting average	.274
Home runs	4
Runs batted in	11
Teams
Washington Nationals (2012–present)
Career highlights and awards
2010 Golden Spikes Award

Bryce Aron Max Harper^[1] (born October 16, 1992) is an American professional baseball outfielder with the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. Harper was selected by the Nationals with the first overall pick in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft. He stands at 6 feet 3 inches and weighs 225 lbs.^[2][3]

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award, awarded annually to the best amateur baseball player.^[4] Going into the 2012 season, baseball prospect-watchers, including Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus routinely ranked Harper as a top #3 prospect. He made his MLB debut with the Nationals on April 28, 2012.

College career[link]

Harper earned his General Educational Development after his sophomore year at Las Vegas High School in December 2009, making him eligible for the June 2010 amateur draft in order to begin his professional baseball career earlier.^[5][6] For the 2010 college season, 17-year-old Harper enrolled at the College of Southern Nevada of the Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC) in National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). An advantage for Harper in his eventual transition to his professional career was that the SWAC, like MLB, uses wooden bats in conference play. In 66 games, he hit 31 home runs, 98 RBI, hitting .443/.526/.987 (AVG/OBP/SLG).^[7] His 31 home runs shattered the school's previous record of 12. He was named the 2010 SWAC Player of the Year.^[8] The next day, in a doubleheader, he went 2-for-5 with a three-run double in the first game, and in the second game went 6-for-6 with 4 home runs, a triple, and a double.^[9]

On June 2, 2010, Harper was ejected from a National Junior College World Series game by home plate umpire Don Gilmore after a called third strike. Harper drew a line in the dirt with his bat as he left the plate, presumably to show where he thought the pitch was. It was Harper's second ejection of the year, and resulted in a two-game suspension.^[10] The suspension ended his amateur career, as Southern Nevada lost the game from which Harper was ejected and lost their next game with Harper suspended, which eliminated them from the tournament.^[11]

Harper won the 2010 Golden Spikes Award.^[4] In May 2012, the book The Last Natural: Bryce Harper's Big Gamble in Sin City and the Greatest Amateur Season Ever by sportswriter Rob Miech was published by the Thomas Dunne Books imprint at St. Martin's Press. The book chronicles Harper's historic college season and culminates in his being the first player selected in the 2010 Major League Baseball Draft and signing a multimillion-dollar contract just before the signing deadline. Steve Rushin endorsed the book as "a fascinating eyewitness account, a baseball version of the Beatles in Hamburg circa 1961, just before the klieg lights get switched on."^[12]

Professional career[link]

Harper playing for the Hagerstown Suns, Single-A affiliates of the Nationals, in 2011.

Harper was drafted #1 overall by the Washington Nationals,^[13] becoming the Nationals second consecutive number one overall pick of the Major League Baseball Draft, following Stephen Strasburg.^[14] Although Harper had predominantly played catcher, the Nationals drafted him as an outfielder to extend his career and to accelerate his player development, so that he could debut in MLB earlier. He has been considered one of the most highly touted prospects in Major League Baseball History. ^[13]

Harper signed a 7-year contract worth $18.9 million,^[15] and on August 26, 2010, Harper was introduced by the Nationals. Harper said he chose to wear #34 because "I always loved Mickey Mantle, three and four equals seven."^[16]

After batting .419 with a .407 OBP (and leading his team in hits, homers, RBI and walks) in the Nationals' fall instructional league, Harper was selected to participate in the Arizona Fall League as a member of the Scottsdale Scorpions taxi-squad,^[17] the second-youngest player in the history of the league (two days older than when Mets' prospect Fernando Martínez appeared in the league in 2006).^[18] He batted .343 and slugged .729.^[19] On November 20, Harper and the Scottsdale Scorpions won the 2010 Arizona Fall League Championship.

After batting .399 in spring training, the Nationals optioned Harper to the Hagerstown Suns of the Class-A South Atlantic League to begin his minor league career.^[20] In April 2011, after a slow start in the minor leagues, Harper visited optometrist Dr. Keith Smithson who reportedly told him, "I don't know how you ever hit before. You have some of the worst eyes I've ever seen." In his first 20 games after receiving contact lenses, Harper hit .480, collecting 7 home runs, 40 doubles and 23 RBI.^[21]