"Never knew Bryce Harper could pitch" - Fans react as rare footage of 12-year-old Phillies superstar firing off fastballs resurfaces

Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper has been one of the most dominant players at the plate over the last decade. However, his career could have had a very different trajectory.

In his early teenage years, the two-time MVP used to dominate from the mound with his fearsome fastballs. A video shared by Pastime Tournaments on Thursday, a 12-year-old Bryce Harper's domination from the mound surprised fans.

"Bryce Harper at 12 years old was something else," the post was captioned.

Fans reacted to the rare footage of the Phillies star from his early baseball career.

"See kids, it doesn’t always work out. He never pitched in the Majors," a fan wrote.

"I knew he could hit, never knew he could pitch," another fan wrote.

"6ft 1in. At 12 then don’t grow anymore that’s crazy," wrote a fan.

Many fans reacted to Harper's frame at such a young age.

"Thats crazy you only grew 1 more inch after 12," exclaimed a fan.

"What? So he stopped growing at 12? Literally the only human to max out in 7th grade," wrote a suprised fan.

While Bryce Harper was one of the touted hitting prospects out of high school, the former Washington Nationals star pitched one game during his college baseball stint with the College of Southern Nevada.

Bryce Harper gets inspired by Phillies pitcher's resilience

The Phillies received a huge blow earlier this week after ace Zack Wheeler underwent blood-clot surgery. After Wheeler's surgery, the Phillies won four in a row in the ace's absence.

Phillies superstar Bryce Harper talked about how Wheeler's injury made the team want to win more.

“Obviously, when you have a player that’s going through something that’s way bigger than the game and everything else, kind of makes you want to win a little bit more for him,” Harper said. “I don’t know if it helped us, but we’re playing good baseball right now. We got to keep doing that.”

Harper is batting .263 for the season with 21 home runs and 60 RBIs as the Phillies lead the National League East with a 74-54 record, holding a six-game lead over the New York Mets in second place.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash