Washington Nationals News: Bryce Harper Finally Becoming Elite for Nats
By Pablo Roa
Good morning DoD readers, and welcome to today’s District Daily! Start off your off day with some great Washington Nationals articles from around the web below.
In today’s Daily, Jason Fletcher of Rant Sports discusses Bryce Harper and how his continued development over the last two years could be a sign that he’s headed for a dominant 2015 season with the Nationals. As Jason notes, Harper has had a bit of a tumultuous first few years in the big leagues—crashing into a few walls, overthrowing cutoff men and simply trying to do too much at the plate—but that appears to be changing this season.
Many fans and analysts alike believe this will be the year Harper breaks out in MLB and becomes one of the game’s best players. I agree. Harper has learned a lot over the last few years and his experience hitting through slumps, dealing with injuries, and being benched by his manager for a lack of hustle have all been formative moments for the young outfielder throughout his career.
As Jason mentions in his article, to see Harper’s transformation one need not look further than his dominant performance in last season’s NLDS against the Giants. While the rest of the team tanked, Harper thrived and gave the Nationals a chance to win every game. The team and the fanbase expects more of the same from Harper this season, and it’s pretty clear that he has high expectations for himself as well.
While he may not hit .300 with 40 home runs and 100 RBIs, Harper should put up the best numbers of his career this season and lead the Nationals back to the postseason. And if he manages to stay healthy all year, it wouldn’t surprise me if he comes away with several trophies at the end of the season, perhaps even his first MVP award.
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Also in today’s Daily, Bleacher Report’s Danny Garrison discusses four players who have struggled early in the season for the Nationals, and whether the team should begin to panic with those players or simply be patient until the season settles down, both for them, and for the Nationals as a whole.
Needless to say, it’s been a difficult first few weeks of the season for the Nationals and there are several players who would be more than happy to rewind to Opening Day and start fresh. But there’s still plenty of time for the team to right the ship, and for all of the players who have struggled thus far this season to play a big role in doing that.
Be sure to check out the articles below, they’re definitely worth a read. And as always, stay tuned to DoD for all your Washington Nationals needs.
Bryce Harper Finally Becoming Elite for Washington Nationals
When the Washington Nationals selected high school outfielder, Bryce Harper, out of Las Vegas with the first overall pick in the 2010 draft, there was an extreme amount of hype surrounding him.
There was talk of Harper being a once-in-a-generation player, and that he was talented enough to play in the majors as an 18-year-old kid. Hearing that type of chatter, day in and day out, seemed to have turned Harper into a guy who thought he was untouchable and he considered himself the best player on the planet.
He made his debut on April 28, 2012, and from the first moment he stepped foot onto a major league field, he carried that swagger around with him. Read full article here.
Playing Patience or Panic with 4 Washington Nationals’ Troubling Early Starts
(Danny Garrison, Bleacher Report)
It’s the game you love to hate with the team you probably picked to win the 2015 World Series: It’s time to play a round of Patience or Panic with the sub-.500 Washington Nationals.
Major League Baseball just wrapped up its second week of games, meaning we have a sample size just big enough to extract trends and just small enough for them not to matter in the grand scheme of things.
The Nationals’ vaunted starting rotation has been more permeable than expected, but the group still owns the eighth-lowest ERA in the majors at 3.13. And the defense behind them, spearheaded by MLB errors leader Ian Desmond, hasn’t been much help. Read full article here.