Harper faces Strasburg for first time

VIERA, Fla. - It wasn't exactly Roy Hobbs blowing fastballs by "The Whammer" in a field next to the train tracks, but Wednesday morning's faceoff between flame-throwing Stephen Strasburg and violent-swinging Bryce Harper was certainly the highlight of the first two weeks of spring training.

The Nationals made Strasburg and Harper the No. 1 overall picks in 2009 and 2010, respectively. But never had the two faced each other at any time during their years with the organization. Until today.

10 pitches. Mana a mano.

Players began gathering behind the cage to watch the two young stars battle.

Harper dug in on the left side of the batter's box and the tall right-hander reared back for the first pitch. Harper thrashed as Strasburg's fastball blew right past him, popping the catcher's mitt.

In all, Harper swung only three times at Strasburg's 10 pitches, connecting once on a liner toward second base and missing on the other two. Strasburg, who manager Matt Williams said asked for the extra live session, showed sharp movement on his breaking ball to go along with tight command of his fastball.

Afterward, Harper downplayed the meeting when asked if his adrenaline was pumping a little more than normal for the chance to measure himself against one of the game's best.

"Not really. I mean, he's my teammate," Harper said. "I'm just up there to face live pitching and see some pitches, nothing else really. If I get a hit or if I strike out, I don't even know. I mean, going up there, that (expletive) don't really matter. It's not a big deal to me."

OK, so maybe we played it up a little bit. Possibly it wasn't a showdown.

For the record, Harper was also joined by Denard Span and Danny Espinosa during the 30 pitch session. Neither Span nor Espinosa fared any better against Strasburg.

"He looked good, I'm thankful he's on my team," Harper said. "He looked really good. We're excited for him. Fastball looked good, curveball looked good, changeup."

Williams was happy to oblige the request of his players who wanted to step in against Strasburg, the Nationals opening day starter the past three seasons.

"The big boys wanted to see him," he said. "They wanted to get in there. This year's a little bit different than last year. Last year, we had two live sessions instead of one. So it gives them opportunity to get back in and see a little bit more (velocity), a little better movement on pitches in anticipation of Game 1."

Williams also downplayed the meeting between the two young stars while also recognizing its value.

"I don't know, maybe it makes for a good story," Williams joked. "For us, it's about work. It's about Harp seeing pitches. It's about Stephen feeling the pitches that he's throwing, the ability to throw a breaking ball where he wants to and changeup. So it's about work. There's nothing wrong with a little friendly competition once in a while, too. That's OK."

The trio also faced Drew Storen right after Strasburg. Span performed the best during this round, driving two balls to deep center off the Nats closer.

"Fastball looked great, he's got his slider going," Harper said of Storen. "It's just nice to be able to face some live pitching and get it going a bit."

It was a good warmup for Harper who figures to face former AL Cy Young Award winner Bartolo Colon when the Mets come to Space Coast Stadium for the first game of the exhibition season on Thursday evening.

"We're excited," Harper said. "I mean, first game tomorrow, go out there try to get some ABs, see some pitches, get some balls in right field and try to get better out there and feel good out there."

Here are a couple of videos of the "showdown." No word if Max Mercy lost any money on this one too.