Bryce Harper: Why Stephen Strasburg Is by Far the More Captivating Phenom

Friday night at Nationals Park, Washington Nationals fans get their first chance to see their two young superstars on the field at the same time. Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg. 

Harper has been a frequent topic of discussion since his major league debut last Saturday in Los Angeles. He's already played his first home game in D.C., but this might be the first time many baseball fans get to see him, playing on a Friday night in the eastern time zone.

But as much of a sensation as Harper has been so far, especially with his early success, his first few games haven't felt quite as exciting as when Strasburg burst on the scene three years ago. 

Why is that? Harper came with much more fanfare and advance hype. With his eye black and dead animal "skullet" on top of his head, he's a far more quirky, curious personality. The longer he sticks around, the more he'll stimulate fans' imagination. 

However, he's not quite there yet. Strasburg has been the more captivating figure. Here are five reasons why that is. 

4 Days of Anticipation

As exciting as it can be to watch a top everyday player, a sense of routine, of regularity develops when he's in the lineup for game after game.

There can even be a bit of a buzzkill when that batter doesn't do something amazing every night. He's not going to hit a home run in every game, or even drive in a key runner. Some nights, he won't get a hit. He'll strike out in a key situation. Maybe more than once.

With an elite pitcher, you could very well see a top-notch performance every time he takes the mound. He won't be at his best in each start, but that doesn't mean a pitcher still can't shut down an opposing lineup, get a key strikeout or help the rest of his staff out by throwing deep into the ballgame. 

Waiting for a great pitcher's next start builds anticipation. It's like waiting for the next episode of your favorite TV show. Watching Mad Men wouldn't be as special if you saw it every day. Community provides laughter toward the end of the week, when you need a break from the grind. 

"Strasburg's pitching tonight!" "Hey, I've got tickets for next Wednesday. Strasburg's on the mound." You don't hear those sorts of sentences with a hitter's name in them. An ace's next start is an event.

Fewer Great Pitchers Than Great Hitters

Perhaps Harper will become an elite hitter one day. That's certainly the expectation.

If so, he'll join the ranks of other excellent young outfielders like Carlos Gonzalez, Justin Upton, Giancarlo Stanton, Jay Bruce, Jason Heyward and Andrew McCutchen.

Maybe he'll even develop into an elite hitter, one who can stand alongside Matt Kemp, Ryan Braun, Jose Bautista and Josh Hamilton.

Popularity and youthful flair might help Harper stand out among his peers, especially when it comes to All-Star voting. But he has quite a climb before he reaches the level of those already established players. 

Harper might not even be the best rookie outfielder in baseball this season, depending on how Mike Trout performs with the Angels.

What about Miguel Cabrera? Albert Pujols? (This season aside.) Derek Jeter. David Ortiz. Prince Fielder. Mark Teixeira. Robinson Cano. Lance Berkman. Troy Tulowitzki. Adrian Beltre. 

That's a pretty crowded field.  

But how many truly ace-level pitchers are there in baseball? Justin Verlander and Clayton Kershaw, certainly. Jered Weaver. Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee. CC Sabathia. Maybe Cole Hamels. Tim Lincecum may be sliding from that perch. 

That's not to say there aren't plenty of very good pitchers in the sport. Matt Cain. Zack Greinke. James Shields. David Price. Jon Lester. Josh Beckett. 

But Strasburg already looks ready to take his place among the top starting pitchers in baseball. He's not just the best pitcher on the Nationals' staff. He's a true ace. And there aren't that many pitchers who perform at that level. 

The Door Was Already Open

Maybe part of the reason Nationals fans and D.C. sports fans haven't seemed to get as excited about Harper (attendance issues aside) as they did with Strasburg is that the phenom firecrackers had already been set off for one young Nationals player. 

Strasburg already opened the door to young stardom. He walked down that red carpet. Harper will walk down that same path, but it's already been taken by his teammate. Maybe that level of excitement can only be reached once during a certain period of time. Nats fans just went through this with Strasburg three years ago. 

It's also possible that people are hesitant to look at a shining star when it can burn out so quickly. Strasburg was a sensation in his rookie season, yet he soon blew out his elbow and required Tommy John surgery. The needle skipped off the record. The party was over. 

Sure, that was a freak occurrence (less so for a pitcher, of course). Injuries can happen at any time. But what happened with Strasburg might have Nats fans a little bit hesitant to embrace Harper as excitedly.

More Compelling Narrative

It's a classic story. The protagonist rises to achievement, fame and fortune. He then takes a fall, perhaps losing everything he once had. He's beaten down, humbled. But that gives him the opportunity to pick himself back up, fight to regain his previous status and rise again. 

Most every great story follows this narrative. It's not compelling if it's too easy for the hero. It's not interesting if only good things happen. There have to be stakes. 

Harper's story hasn't followed that arc yet. It's too early. It's the first chapter. The origin story. He hasn't suffered his fall yet. 

But Strasburg is on his way back from one of the worst things that can happen to a pitcher. We all love seeing the protagonist come back from defeat. He's picked himself up, dusted himself off and raised his fists again, ready to fight. 

Strasburg is too young to be in the third act of his career. But in terms of early success, getting hurt and returning to prominence, he's in the third act of this particular story. And it's the kind of tale we all love watching and reading. 

Catchier Catchphrase

The phenomenon of Strasburg's rookie year came with a buzzword. It made for an easy hashtag on Twitter. It captured the excitement and good feelings that came with the emergence of a new star so succinctly. 

Strasmas. 

Happy Strasmas to you. Hey, it's Strasmas tonight. Are you ready for Strasmas? 

By taking on the suffix of our most popular and celebrated holiday, Nats fans (and baseball fans) perfectly summed up the sensation that was happening.

Harper, unfortunately, didn't have such a happy catchphrase attached to his debut.

Brycemas? Harperween? Harperkah? 

Doesn't have the same ring, does it? Besides, as we mentioned in a previous point, fans have been there and done that with Strasburg already. That territory's been occupied. 

But there's still hope. Harper is only five games into his career. He hasn't even finished his first week in the majors as of this writing. Give fans time and they can come up with something hilarious, something memorable.

Better yet, maybe it'll be a nickname. That's something Strasburg doesn't have. And baseball in general has lacked a good nickname in recent years, other than a mash-up of first and last names. 

If Harper can pull that off, we really might have something special. 

Follow @iancass on Twitter.