Bryce Harper was exciting for fans in 2012 Major League regular season - MLB Feature Part 4
As Harper settles down next year and tries to rationalise every single activity, he will be prone to distractions.
For example, if some writers raise questions about his technique at the plate, instead of just blasting out at them and killing his frustration, he will more probably perceive the criticism as genuine.
As a result, he can end up feeling that he certainly has a flaw-riddled technique and that he cannot do anything good for the team. Demoralised and with his confidence down, he will start creating doubts in his mind about his ability as a quality batter.
In short, making a conclusion based on his performance in the recently concluded regular season and doing projections about his future numbers require considerations of the factors that he was not affected by in the current year.
Hopefully his maturity as a player next year offsets the problems that he can face due to his naivety at handling affairs which are unrelated to the game but can be damaging to the extent of hampering his expedition badly.
All-in-all, Harper made memories in his first Major League regular season that he can be nostalgic about years from now. He will always have moments to think about and spend his pastime in drawing enjoyment from.
Harper has narrated his feelings in his debut game against Los Angeles Dodgers. It was unbelievable for him to be hitting in his first match and watching the Major Leaguers around him. He can forget anything in his life but never will he be able to caste
off the events from his mind that happened in this match.
"I got on second base and I felt like, 'I have to put this behind me, because I'm probably going to have another at-bat that's going to mean something,'" Harper says. "What really sticks out to me, though, is when Matt Kemp hit a walk-off [homer] to right
center and he's going into home plate with that little jigsaw thing, or whatever he does. Crazy moment. Crazy atmosphere. Those fans love that team and it was a cool moment to see that and say, 'This is major league baseball. You're here.”
Similarly he cannot resist not fancying for one more time the state of the faces of those reporters following his witty answers to their questions. He will be remembering how mercilessly he hurled sarcasm at them while not allowing them take advantage of
his inexperience at tackling reporters.
Right now, Harper will be focused on Spring Training. After doing some rest and spending time with his family in the offseason, he will return to practice sessions.
Spring Training will provide him the best opportunity to fix issues with regard to his offence and make sure he learns techniques to perform well under pressure.
Most probably he will have Davey Johnson as his manager there. Johnson has seen him playing all through the season, which means that he knows more than anyone else about where he lacks and requires improvements.
Harper cannot afford to underestimate the importance of the upcoming season, both for him and for his team. The 2013 regular season is going to prove a watershed in his career. It will demystify as to what kind of player he can become and the possible echelons
of excellence that he can achieve.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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