By Justin Worsley
The Washington Nationals have selected the highly-touted Bryce Harper with this year's first-overall selection in the MLB Draft on Monday. The hard-hitting player, who normally plays catcher, was drafted as an outfielder.
Harper, 17, has been hyped as the LeBron James of baseball, appearing on the front cover of Sports Illustrated last year. This season while playing in a wooden-bat league at the College of Southern Nevada, Harper has hit 29 home runs and 89 RBIs. Harper also has 18 stolen bases and a .442 batting average.
Last year's first-overall pick, pitcher Stephen Strausburg, is set to make his MLB debut on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Washington is currently climbing back to respectability after drafting one of the most highly-touted pitchers in MLB history along with the similarly touted Harper.
Harper joins an exclusive group of outfielders who were drafted at the age of 18 or younger, including Ken Griffey Jr., Darryl Strawberry and Josh Hamilton.
Harper, a switch-hitter, is also the highest junior college player drafted in MLB history. Former White Sox pitcher Alex Fernandez was drafted fourth-overall in the 1990 MLB draft.
Pittsburgh selected right-handed pitcher Jameson Taillon with the second-overall pick.
Round 2 of the MLB draft begins on Tuesday. The rest of the draft concludes on Wednesday.
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