For Bryce Harper, who has been participating in junior baseball games across the United States as a "hired player" since the age of 9, he's always played the role of the "child next door" since he started baseball:
From youth baseball to high school and college leagues, he pushed through almost effortlessly: during his amateur days, from catcher to infielder to outfielder, there wasn't a position he couldn't play; he could even pitch at a speed of 154 km/h—as he competed against older players by three or four years, he was still the best.
Even in MLB, it only took him about two years of struggling in the minor leagues before he was promoted to the majors, where in his debut season he posted an impressive .270 batting average, 22 home runs, and a .817 OPS.
