Since he was 16 years old we have been told that Bryce Harper is going to be a Phenom.  He was put on the cover of Sports Illustrated and the bar was set.  He left high school early and got his GED so he could play junior college baseball in order to be eligible for the 2010 Amateur MLB draft and at 17 years old he became the No.1 overall pick of the Washington Nationals.  Harper had little issue in the minors and made his MLB debut after just one season of pro baseball.  Harper won the 2012 Rookie of the Year Award and just three seasons later he earned his first MVP award at just 22 years old fulfilling the lofty expectations set for him as a teenager. In the 2016 Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide Ray Flowers gives his take on Bryce Harper’s incredible 2015 season and the likelihood of a repeat performance.

Here is a sample of some of the content inside the BRAND NEW 2016 Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide that is available online RIGHT HERE. 

 2016 MLB Draft Guide: Bryce Harper, Historically Good

By Ray Flowers

Bryce Harper won the NL MVP at 22 years of age in 2015. The 2015 NL Rookie of the Year, Kris Bryant, was 23 years old. Harper became the fourth youngest player ever to win the MVP: Stan Musial (1943), Johnny Bench (1970) and Vida Blue (1971). He was the youngest to win unanimously.

 Harper hit .330. No player his age has hit that high since Alex Rodriguez in 1996 (.358).

Harper posted a .460 OBP. No one younger than Harper has hit that mark since Jimmie Foxx in 1929.

Harper had a .649 SLG. He is the youngest player to hit that mark since Joe DiMaggio in 1937.

Harper became the youngest player to ever have 170 hits and 120 walks in a single season. He broke the record held by Ted Williams in 1941.

Harper had a 9.9 WAR in 2015. Ken Griffey Jr. (9.7) and Hank Aaron (9.4) never had a season that high. They were pretty good players.

Through their age-22 season there is no difference between Harper and one of the all-time greats, Mickey Mantle.

Harper: .289/.384/.517 with a 19.8 WAR in 510 games

Mantle: .296/.391/.505 with a 20.1 WAR in 511 games.

To wrap up the intro, Bryce Harper hit .330 with 42 homers, 99 RBI, 118 runs scored and six steals with a 1.109 OPS in 2015.

The question now becomes… how valuable will Harper be in 2016 and is he worthy of being the top pick in fantasy drafts?

Let’s explore.

HIS HEALTH

After playing 139 games as a rookie (he was called up after the year began), Harper appeared in just 118 and 100 games over the next two seasons due to a myriad of injuries. In 2015 he appeared in a career best 153 games. That leaves us with the following data points.

Only once in four seasons has he accrued 600 plate appearances.

Only once in four seasons has he appeared in 140 games.

Even if we remove his rookie season, his three year games played total averages 124 games played a campaign. If we add back in his rookie effort we’re looking at an average of 127.5 games. Through four years he’s missed an average of more than a month of game action. Keep that in mind.

You can read the rest of this article and much more by purchasing the Fantasy Alarm Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide found HERE