On Tuesday night in D.C., the Yankees and Nationals begin a compelling and important two-game interleague series. Whenever the topic is either of these two teams, the discussion invariably drifts to Alex Rodriguez or Bryce Harper. The two sluggers are very good and very controversial (for very different reasons, obviously -- and I've yet to encounter anyone who can coherently explain why Harper is in any way problematic).
Regarding all of this, Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News recently spoke with A-Rod about the obvious parallels -- i.e., that he and Harper each was ballyhooed coming out of the draft and then the minors and that each was in the bigs to stay while still in his teens. An excerpt:
“I love everything about him [Harper],” Rodriguez said. “I like players that play hard. He wears his emotion on his sleeve, he’s a gamer and he’s a winner. As a fan of baseball, I would pay big money to watch him play — especially to watch him hit.
...
“His home runs don’t tell the whole story,” Rodriguez said. “His body language, how he’s carrying himself, his plate recognition, the balls he’s hitting all over the field. He’s not just hitting home runs; he’s hitting home runs, he’s walking a lot. He’s maturing right in front of our eyes and you love to see that.”
Harper, who, lest we forget, is still just 22 years of age, is batting a thunderous .338/.476/.729 while leading the majors in OPS+ and leading the NL in homers and total bases. Rodriguez, meantime, owns a standout OPS+ of 152 in this, his age-39 campaign. That is, they are both good at baseball whether you like it or not.
Read the whole thing, you know.
