It appears that the Washington Nationals are zeroing in on Bryce Harper as the player they will select with the first overall pick in the 2010 draft. Harper, 17, received his GED in December in order to play collegiately and become draft-eligible sooner rather than later.

The precocious youngster has done banner work in what appears to be his sole season at the College of Southern Nevada. Splitting time between third base, right field, center field, and catcher, Harper has hit .422/.516/.891 with 15 home runs, 13 doubles, and 42 runs batted in just 39 games. In addition to his defensive versatility, Harper has displayed his complete array of skills, stealing 12 bases in 14 attempts. His performance has been particularly valuable to scouts for three reasons: first, the competition he is facing is superior to what he would face at the high school level; second, his opponents are pitching to him, rather than throwing around as would have been likely were he still in high school; finally, his eye-popping numbers have all been with a wooden bat. Harper has done everything in his power on the field to make a case for the number one pick, and, evidently, the Nationals' front office is taking notice.

Update: Adam Kilgore says Harper going first overall, "Not etched in stone"

When my father and I went to spring training two years ago, we decided to make a stop at Dodgertown to catch a game one last time before the club moved from their historic training complex in Vero Beach. It was going to be a unique experience, the Dodgers were running a split squad with Joe Torre and most of the club playing a few games in Japan, so left behind to manage the other half of the club was legendary manager Tommy Lasorda.

My father and I sat in the third row, behind home plate, and got to catch Lasorda joking around with a few kids who had no idea who he was. It was great to see an amazing man enjoying himself in the captains seat for a final time. Before the first pitch the Dodgers PA announcer came on and told us to welcome a special guest, Frank Jobe. An elderly man emerged from the dugout and slowly walked towards home plate, and waved to the crowd. A largely disinterested fan base continued on with their conversations, but my father broke from the pack. He stood up out of his seat, and began to yell at the top of his lungs:

"YOU BELONG IN THE HALL OF FAME! YOU BELONG IN THE HALL OF FAME! THANK YOU!"

My dad, a baseball historian and lifelong fan of the game knew who Frank Jobe was, but very few others did, which is sad considering the incredible impact the man has had on the game. Jobe of course is a surgeon, the surgeon who invented the well known Tommy John surgery.

Before Jobe resurrected John's career, any injury to a pitcher's elbow was considered a death sentence. Pitchers put a lot of strain on their elbow when they throw, most notably on the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL). It used to be that any UCL injury was a career ending one, almost exclusively, but Jobe's groundbreaking procedure fixed that all by taking a less used ligament from somewhere else in the body to replace the damaged UCL.

Unlike shoulder surgeries, which to this day still can take years and many tries to recover from, Tommy John surgery makes pitchers arms just as good as new, and allows pitchers to throw just as hard as they did before injury. Many pitchers who have received Tommy John surgeries early in their MLB tenure were able to have long unimpeded careers after only an 18-month recovery period. It has gotten to the point that pitchers and teams hope that when there is arm trouble it is a result of the elbow, not the shoulder.

While the surgery left Tommy John himself just short of reaching the Hall of Fame, the impact the surgery itself has had on the game is huge. In total 180 Major League baseball players have had the surgery, who otherwise would have likely not had careers if it weren't for Jobe's invention. Many believe pitchers like Sandy Koufax, who had a shortened career due to an elbow injury, would have been able to pitch much longer in the majors had the surgery existed then.  Koufax only pitched until he was 30 and baseball fans across the country were robbed of perhaps another decade of domination from the devastating lefty. But with Dr. Jobe's surgery, we will never be left wondering "what if" when it comes to pitcher's with elbow injuries.

Among the most notable pitchers whose career's were saved due to Tommy John are Chris Carpenter, Billy Wagner, Randy Wolf, Kerry Wood, John Smoltz, Kenny Rogers, Matt Morris, Jimmy Key, Tim Hudson, Mike Hampton, Erig Gagne, Eric Bedard, Patt Hentgen and A.J. Burnett. Notable position players include: Jose Canseco, Paul Molitor, Luis Gonzalez, Carlos Quintin, and Matt Holliday.

So thank you Dr. Jobe. Thank you for transforming the game for the better that so all of us can enjoy the pitchers who bring us to our feet in joy just a little bit longer. Thank you saving the careers of many and for sharing your craft with doctors across the country so pitchers everywhere can receive the same treatment regardless of status. Thank you for your contributions which have unquestionably advanced the game.

As a blogger, I get a ton of emails from people trying to get me to promote one thing or another, whether it be an email from TMZ or NBC. I usually ignore them, as there are so many that I couldn't possibly host all of the requests I get. This is a special case however, as the Nationals are teaming up with Children's National Medical Center at Nationals Park. For every ticket sold through THIS LINK a portion of the proceeds will go to help build a new Diabetes Care Complex in Washington D.C.

Again, go check out the game Sunday, April 25 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers and buy the ticket through THIS LINK to help children with diabetes.

Here is the press release.:

 

Nationals Game to Benefit Children’s National Medical Center

Ticket sales for National vs. Dodgers game April 25 to support children with diabetes

WHAT: Children’s National Medical Center is proud to partner with The Washington Nationals Dream Foundation to encourage area baseball fans to support children with diabetes. A portion of every ticket sold atwww.nationals.com/childrensnational for the Sunday, April 25 game between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers will help Children's National Medical Center create a world-class Diabetes Care Complex. For every $24 ticket sold through Children’s National Medical Center, $8 (one-third of the ticket cost) will go toward construction of the complex.

In partnership with the Washington Nationals Dream Foundation, Children’s National Medical Center is building a new Diabetes Care Complex to provide expanded state-of-the-art, family-centered, and personalized care to children in the Washington region and beyond.  By supporting the Diabetes Care Complex at Children’s NationalMedical Center, you will help provide the education, medical, and emotional support that children with diabetes need to lead healthy and happy lives.

WHEN: Sunday, April 25, 2010 – 1:35 PM

WHERE: Nationals Park

1500 South Capitol St., SE
Washington, DC

In order to participate in Children’s National Day, tickets must be purchased through this link:

http://nationals.com/childrensnational

For groups of 20 or more please contact Kevin Nawrocki at  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 202.640.7645 to place your order and support this important cause.

 

Pitcher - Daniel Rosenbaum, SP, Hagerstown

After a strong showing in the GCL last season and in his first game of the new season, Rosenbaum is an early runner for sleeper prospect of the year. In his debut against Hickory, Rosenbaum piched 5.1 innings, allowing only 2 hits, 1 walk, and 0 runs while striking out 7 batters. Last year in the Gulf Coast League, Rosenbaum showed tons of potential, maintaining a 9.0 K/9 rate, while walking only 8 hitters and letting up only a single home run over 43 innings. The former 22nd round pick (652nd overall) is the lowest drafted pitcher in the Suns' rotation, but this week he outdid the likes of Jack McGeary and Josh Smoker to pick up Hagerstown's lone win.* If Rosenbaum, a 22 year old left-hander from Ohio, continues to put up numbers similar to last year then he may find himself being the first one promoted to Potomac.

* The game which Rosenbaum won was also ended early because of rain

Batter - Pete Orr, IF, Syracuse

Orr might never be a star for the Nationals, but he is likely to see some time with the team this season if one of the middle infielders go down. He is a prime example of a player Mike Rizzo would consider "inventory" (aka organizational depth), but Orr was three different levels of clutch this week. In the Syracuse home opener with the game tied and the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, Orr blooped a walk-off single to center field. The next night, with the game tied again in the tenth inning, Orr drew a leadoff walk and eventually made his way

The doctor is in at Citizens Bank Ballpark, meaning everyone in the NL East just got very sickening feeling. Roy Halladay threw his first complete game in a Phillies uniform, shutting down the Houston Astros by a score of 2-1.

The rate at which Halladay is picking up complete game wins is truly remarkable. In an age where managers are more inclined to pull their starters at the first glimpse of trouble, Halladay and his rubber arm are consistently battling their deep into games. I was a little surprised at Philadelphia's decision to essentially replace Cliff Lee with Halladay. Lee can be viewed as the left-handed version of Halladay, I mean; he did pitch a complete game win at the new Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of last years World Series. With question marks surrounding the Phillie bullpen, manager Charlie Manuel has to love sending Halladay out there every fifth day knowing that his bullpen will probably be having a day off.

After an ugly series against the Nationals in which former Met Livan Hernandez shut down his former team, Mets manager Jerry Manuel takes the blame for his team being "unprepared."

Ugh it can't be that time of year already, can it? Some Mets fans are calling for Jerry Manuel's head after the teams disappointing 2-4 start in which the same lackluster and uninspiring play we saw last year has been on display early in 2010. Quite honestly, I think there is some cause for concern with the Mets because so far the only bright spot has been the play of Jeff Francoeur. Johan Santana couldn't even get out of the first inning in Sundays game without giving up a grand slam to Josh Willingham that looked like something out of a little league game. Also, I realize Reyes is only two games into the season but it is becoming harder and harder for me to earn his trust back considering he has not been consistently healthy since the days when Shea Stadium was around!