Bryce Harper: Washington Nationals' Phenom Has Already Justified Insane Hype

Oftentimes, hype destroys our perception of an athlete. We hear so much about them for so long, that naturally they fail to impress on first glance. In the case of Washington Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper, however, the hype has not done dimmed our perception of him. 

Before I get ahead of myself, it is important to point out that Harper has only been in the big leagues for four games and 15 plate appearances. I am not delusional to think that .385/.400/.615 can last all year. 

That being said, given all that we have heard about Harper, he has proven to be even better than we could have expected. 

Harper entered the national radar in 2009, when was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a 16-year-old. At the time, Tom Verducci wrote that Harper was the perfect prospect.

"

He has size, speed, power, intelligence, a left-handed bat, an appetite for work, a strong arm, the ability to catch and the athleticism to play almost any other position, plus a happy home life. To be this good and this complete at age 16 is something that just doesn't happen in baseball.  

"

Here we are, three years later, and Harper is playing in big league games and showing all those skills that made him "the perfect prospect."

Everyone can talk about what Harper can do with the bat—just watching him swing once, you can see why he is going to hit a ton of home runs in his career—but it is everything else he does that has made him so electrifying at just 19 years old. 

Watch Harper run to first base, even if it is just a routine grounder to the second baseman, and he is flying down the line.

Even more impressive than watching Harper hit in his first four games has been watching him play defense. His throwing arm is outstanding. In his first game against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Harper made a throw from left field to home plate that would have had the runner who was going home dead to rights if the catcher had held on to the ball. 

The defensive wizardry continued the next day as Harper was put in center field and made a terrific catch against the wall. On Wednesday night against Arizona, he uncorked a throw from deep left field to home plate that should have been an out but the umpire missed the call. 

Even if the offensive stats don't look like what we have been told they will, Harper has already proven why he was called "the perfect prospect" as a 16-year-old. 

The scary thing is, at just 19 years old, Harper is actually going to get better when he gets more comfortable and adjusts to the pitching at this level. I don't know if he stays in the big leagues all year, but the still-very-early returns on Harper are everything we expected and then some. 

For more praise about Bryce Harper's throwing arm, time to first and anything else you want to know about baseball, be sure to follow me on Twitter. 

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