After Ian Desmond decided to skip the All-Star Game to rest a nagging oblique injury, Michael Bourn was added to the National League roster to represent Atlanta. Then Giancarlo Stanton of the Marlins announced that he’d miss the game as well due to “loose bodies” in his knee that may require surgery. Stanton was due to perform in the Home Run Derby on Monday as well but will miss that as well. Bryce Harper was added to fill his spot in the game and Andrew McCutchen will swing for the fences in his place in the Derby.

Both Bourn and Harper finished behind Cardinal David Freese in the fan’s Final Vote after Chipper Jones had been taken off the ballot and added to the NL roster to replace Matt Kemp. Aaron Hill of Arizona is the only player from the Final Vote who hasn’t been added to the team’s roster.

Jake Peavy was added to the American League roster after C.J. Wilson was scratched due to a blister.

Matt Holliday was added to the NL team after a death in the family made Yadier Molina unavailable for the game, as well.

In other news, Justin Verlander is being reported as the American League’s starter on Tuesday. He’s sitting on a 2.58 ERA and 128/30 K/BB ratio in 132.2 innings for Detroit.

July 10, 2011; Phoenix, AZ, USA; USA outfielders Matthew Szczur (4) , Bryce Harper (middle) and Wil Myers (right) celebrate after the 2011 Futures Game at Chase Field. USA won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

In today’s know-everything-first, savior-in-the-making, prospect pleasure land, people tend to over-hype everything. Media allows us access to high school football games (a lot of them), little league games, college sports, and so on. On the Internet, we can get analysis and scouting reports on children—read that line again and let it sink in. Think of Bryce Harper, the phenom of the moment. According to ESPN, Baseball America, the Washington Nationals, and Under Armor (he endorses them), Harper is the second coming of Babe Ruth or Willie Mays. According to Fangraphs, he’s hitting .274/.348/.471, which is exceptional for a 19-year-old.

My point, and I’d say it’s a point of criticism, is that we go to extremes with our perspective on players … especially prospects. Until they reach the majors, they are a relative unknown, which helps create our extreme views. We knew less about Harper the player before he got to the majors so that gave us the license to create the fantasy Bryce Harper in our imagination. And fantasy Bryce Harper is phenomenal, perhaps to an unobtainable degree.

If Harper stays the player he is today and finishes his career with the same slash line as right now, he will have been a relative disappointment. He will not have walked on water, leapt tall buildings, solved the debt crisis, and rolled back prices all while creating sweet catch phrases like “That’s a clown question, bro.” Even though his numbers so far this season would equal a pretty good major league player over the course of 15 seasons, it won’t be good enough.

Harper may live up to his hype. The media loves to help players reach it by exaggerating every small things they do as if no one has ever done it before (Remember when Harper hustled around the bases on a popout and ESPN gushed as if no one had ever ran out a popout? Boy, that was terrific journalism). But it takes a lot to get there. He’ll have to be a superstar, nothing else will suffice because people have already created the player they want him to be.

This all came to my mind while I was watching the Omaha Storm Chasers game this morning on MiLB.tv. I wanted to see Jake Odorizzi pitch; I watch most of his starts. The broadcasters mentioned that he would start the Futures Game, but they also talked about another guy who started in the Futures Game something like a decade ago: Josh Fields. Fields is playing for the Albuquerque Isotopes now so Odorizzi pitched against him on Monday.

As Fields, a guy with great promise in his day and plenty of major league opportunities, dug in, I thought to myself: Look at the contrast here. One guy’s star has faded another’s is shining bright. No one knew that Fields would bust at the big league level, but fewer people back then were paying attention to the minor league level. Fields was coming up just as fans started raising expectations on top prospects.

Today, we pin hopes to players in the minor leagues more so than ever. Many Royals blogs and news outlets reported Bubba Starling’s big day on Monday, hitting the first two homeruns of his professional career. Harper and Mike Trout are two of the biggest names in baseball and have been since they were in the low minors. We see these bits of news on rookie ball players like Starling, or Harper when he was down there, and let it fuel our hopeful frenzy. Oddly, when Bubba went 0-5 the other night, no one said much but when he hit two homeruns in one game, we started clearing a spot on our mantels next to Jesus and John McClain (Doesn’t everyone’s mantle have John McClain from Die Hard on it?).

I’ll admit, it’s fun to be hopeful. I spent all this morning looking up stuff about Bubba and dreaming of he, Wil Myers, and Alex Gordon in the outfield. But to do so without critical thought is not fair to the player, the team, or yourself as a fan. Gordon felt the pressure that comes with people pinning their hopes to him. Everyone knew he’d be the next George Brett. Everyone knew he’d be great. And for a long time, he wasn’t, and fans were mad at him for it. Was our disappointment his fault? No. It was ours. We created the fantasy Alex Gordon, and he folded under the pressure of trying to be that thing.

I notice this more as I think about the All-Star Futures Game. The Royals have three young players in it: Odorizzi, Myers, and Yordano Ventura. I’ve already given my thoughts on Myers (good and bad). I know very little about Ventura. So, I’ll give you my thoughts on Odorizzi, and more importantly, I’ll try to do it in a realistic way.

Feb 29, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi (49) poses for a picture during the Royals photo day at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-US PRESSWIRE

I’ve seen most of his starts this year, and I’m excited like everyone else. To me, his greatest weapon is his fastball. He commands it well, especially up in the zone as an outpitch. If I’m excited about one aspect of his game, it’s that he can use his fastball effectively, something that not too many Royals starters have. He’s poised on the mound and consistent. Sometimes his breaking pitches get a little wild, and they don’t have the type of hard-breaking, late movement associated with aces like Justin Verlander and Felix Hernandez. But they’re pretty good.

Here’s what scares me about Odorizzi: he gives up a lot of hits. He’s given up 52 hits in 47.2 innings at Omaha this season. When I watch him, he’s always pitching with guys on base. He’s always pitching out of jams. He usually gets out of them because he can strike guys out, which makes his ERA look fine. It’s 2.83 in Omaha, but his opponent’s BA is .274. But it’s far from a guarantee that he’ll be able to do that against top-flight talent in the majors.

That’s why I’m excited to see him in the Futures Game. I want to see him get tested against the best hitters in the minors. I want to see him have a few guys on with nobody out and see if he can work out of that jam. In the majors, he’ll face tough hitters like Miguel Cabrera with runners on base, not random Albuquerque Isotopes players … well … like Josh Fields

It’s easy to look at Odorizzi and become unreasonably excited. From that comes unreasonable expectations and unreasonable disappointment. It makes more sense to be realistically optimistic and contextually open-minded than to hang our hopes and dreams on a kid, and then rip the kid for not delivering.

Whether that aspect is good or not for the game isn’t what I’m worried about, but with a fan’s perspective, the All-Star Game still matters, but not always for the game itself. It’s an event. There are days of build up within a city (and if you’re in the Kansas City area, you know this by now) as the focus of the baseball world lands on them.

Yes, interleague play brings teams into town that would normally never play in Kansas City unless there was a World Series matchup. In the 1980s, when Mike Schmidt ambled up to the plate at then-Royals Stadium, it was his first time swinging about in Kansas City. The All-Star game used to be a chance to showcase both leagues and match them up when they otherwise wouldn’t. That aspect has faded with the changes in the game. Free agency further blurs the lines between the leagues, in 2013, there will be an interleague play going on all season long and eventually, the designated hitter will exist within both leagues.

Regardless, that doesn’t take away some of the mystique of the All-Star Game.

The NFL’s Pro Bowl is awful. There isn’t any defense. Teams play under entirely different rules, and now, in an effort to keep it relevant, much less interesting, the league has it before the Super Bowl ends the NFL season (rather than after as in the past which made it meaningless) and had to get a promise from players to make it competitive. The NBA isn’t too far off with its game, and it resembles an AND1 Tour more than a smooth game of strategy and competitiveness. The NHL has a great skills competition but the game doesn’t draw the attention the others do.

But baseball holds some of that magic still. Players lined up along the baseline in their own uniforms, weird matchups you’ve never seen. In the past, it was the first time many National League hitting stars would face star American League pitchers.

Chipper Jones. Photo Credit: Daniel Shirey-US PRESSWIRE

Some of those unique matchups will still happen year to year, but exhibitions like the All-Star Game also give a city a chance to see players they’ve never seen in person too. While some of the pool of NL stars has passed through Kauffman Stadium in the past, many haven’t, and many of those who haven’t are big names who would bring a special buzz to the evening.

These are the players the Royals have played in the past who’ll be in the All-Star Game on July 10 but who’ve never played at Kauffman Stadium:

• Chipper Jones
• Stephen Strasburg
• Joey Votto
• Craig Kimbrel
• Jose Altuve
• Andrew McCutchen
• Joel Hanrahan
• Ian Desmond
• Ernesto Frieri (who’s eligible in the Final Vote for a spot on the AL side)

Not too bad, huh? The Royals faced Strasburg before he had Tommy John surgery, but it was in Washington. There’s a chance that, even for just an inning, Kansas City natives could see the phenom on the mound for the first time.

Chipper Jones was just named to the NL side and in his last season, he makes his first trip to Kauffman. This is a player who’ll end up in the Hall of Fame stepping onto our grass. Sure, fans all over the country have seen Jones on ESPN, TBS, in the playoffs, the World Series, in other All-Star Games. But they’ve never seen him at Kauffman Stadium.

But how about one step further. Here are those players who have never faced the Royals at all and never at Kauffman:

• Bryce Harper*
• Yu Darvish*
• Mike Trout
• Aroldis Chapman
• David Wright
• Buster Posey
• Pablo Sandoval
• Cole Hamels
• Giancarlo Stanton
• Matt Kemp (who won’t be in the game but will be in the Home Run Derby)

*eligible for the Final Vote

Bryce Harper. Bro. Photo Credit: Joy R. Absalon-US PRESSWIRE

Look at that list. Harper and Trout are two players who might be chasing 3000 hits in 20 years and hitting the Hall of Fame in 25. Wright has been one of the most consistent hitters since he’s been in the league, Stanton is a mythic beast of a slugger who’s already busted a couple of scoreboards this year with home runs and Darvish and Chapman aren’t far removed from the international baseball headlines while their performance matches the hype.

That’s a solid collection of talent that’s on display for the first time ever at Kauffman Stadium.

Maybe we’ve all seen them on TV and the internet. Maybe even on the road. But this is right here in the Royals backyard. There will be stirring in the bullpen and 40,000 heads turning to see who it is. A batter will go back to the dugout and the crowd will wait to see if perhaps this is their first look at Bryce Harper in person (assuming he wins the Final Vote).

To me, that’s still pretty special.

Bryce Harper laughs at Minor League pitching (Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE)

One of them will turn 20-years-old on August 3, the other will celebrate his 20^th birthday two months later on October 16.  One was the first pick in the 2010 draft, the other was the fifth pick in 2011.  Both players were selected by teams with basement dwelling recent histories but high hopes for the future.  Both of them are represented by super agent Scott Boras.

Bubba Starling and Bryce Harper grew up wowing fans and scouts alike at a young age with their prodigious home runs, playing against competition 2-3 years older.  Both are relatively humble kids with a strong work ethic and professional demeanor who are expected to make strong role models for the next generation of baseball fans.  Both are considered to be five tool players, freaks of nature with once-in-a-generation athleticism (well, maybe twice in a generation) and the ability to contribute mightily to dragging their respective clubs toward contention.

For all their similarities, comparing Bubba Starling and Bryce Harper is like comparing apples to oranges, or more accurately like comparing baseballs to footballs, basketballs, and more baseballs.  To begin, Bubba grew up on 20 acres in Gardner, KS and Bryce Harper grew up in the bright lights of Las Vegas.  Bryce’s father’s name is Ron.  Bubba’s father’s name is Jimbo.  (I’m not making that up.)  Bubba bats right handed, Bryce bats from the left.  (They both throw right handed.)  Bryce grew up eating, thinking, breathing, and playing baseball non-stop since he was three years old.  Bubba grew up in an athletically diverse and competitive family of cousins that all played 3 different sports, and played each sport very well.

As I’m sure you know, Bubba accepted a scholarship to play football AND baseball for the University of Nebraska.  If not for that $7.5 million signing bonus the Royals game him (the largest ever offered to a high school player), we might have watched Bubba in a red jersey last Fall tossing footballs around Lincoln, NE.  And oh by the way, he could dunk a basketball when he was in 8^th grade and averaged 28.3 points per game as a high school senior on the hardwood.  So, you could say Bubba had options when it came to deciding his future as a professional athlete.

Bubba’s baseball experience stems from playing for only two months out of each year, partially because it’s not generally realistic to throw a baseball outside between November and March in Kansas, and partially because he was too busy playing other sports during the baseball off season.

Bryce grew up in a warmer climate which afforded him more time to spend outside on a baseball field, and traveled all over the country participating in tournaments and winning more awards than you can carry in an F-350.  Bryce was named to the All American Travel Ball Select team as a 12, 13, and 14 year old, he was the TBS player of the year at 14, he was the Baseball America High School Player of the Year in 2009, the SWAC player of the year in 2010, the Golden Spikes award winner in 2010, plus the recipient of many additional accolades and trophies that would take another entire story just to list.

Both Bryce and Bubba can hit the ball a ton.  It’s been widely reported that Bubba has belted 500 foot home runs on more than one occasion.  Bryce’s high school coach says he hit a 570 foot blast while playing in the desert of Las Vegas.  Read that again – 570 feet.  Now read this – when he was 15-years-old!!

Bryce’s high school home run story seems just a tiny bit farfetched to me.  Baseball America says that “anything in the 500-foot range is genuinely historic.”  The computerized measuring system installed in the major leagues since 1982 has only recorded one, just one 500+ foot home run.  Cecil Fielder (you know, Price’s dad) hit a ball 502 feet in Milwaukee in 1991.  This is the last time anyone hit a 500 foot home run in the majors.  So, how could we possibly believe that Bryce Harper hit a ball 570 feet?

Now, having said that, full disclosure requires me to inform you that Bryce did touch the back wall of Tropicana Field during a Power Showcase home run derby, setting a stadium record with an officially measured 502 foot home run.  Although this blast was hit off a batting practice pitch, I suppose anything is possible, including maybe even a 570 foot dinger.

Bryce Harper’s pure focus on baseball has created a player who is major league ready, or nearly so, at just 19 years of age.  He’s well deserving of the moniker, “the Lebron James of baseball.”  The fact that there is some discussion about whether Harper might break Spring Training with the Washington Nationals seems incredible.  More than likely he’ll begin the season with the Syracuse Chiefs, he’ll destroy AAA pitching for a couple months, and then he’ll be called up sometime midseason.

It’s the rarest of talent that can play in the big leagues at 19.  Robin Yount played for the Brewers at 18-years-old in 1974, but it just doesn’t happen very often.  Even Bret Saberhagen had to wait until he was 20-years-old, and Eric Hosmer until after his 21^st birthday before receiving their promotions to Kansas City.

In my opinion, Bubba Starling has equal or greater athletic gifts than Bryce Harper, but his baseball talents are more raw and will require additional time to refine.  It might be more meaningful for us to compare Bubba to Hall-of-Famer Dave Winfield who played both college baseball and basketball at the University of Minnesota, and then was drafted by the San Diego Padres, the Atlanta Hawks, and the Minnesota Vikings as well although he had never played a down of college football.   However, this still isn’t a perfect comparison because Winfield wasn’t drafted until he had graduated from college at 21 years of age, three years older than Bubba Starling when he was drafted.  But then again, the Padres did place him directly into the major leagues that same year where he hit .277 in 56 games, so the resulting age when he arrived in the bigs will likely be comparable to Bubba’s.

Another comparison could be between Bubba and multi-sport star Bo Jackson who played both football and baseball in college.  Bo’s baseball talents were considered to be less refined than his football skills when he was drafted (he was a Heisman Trophy winner), but his sheer otherworldly athleticism enabled him to jump to the majors after just 53 games of AA ball at the age of 23.  To the dismay of Royals fans, in 1987 Jackson decided to play football as a “hobby.”  This unfortunate decision ultimately resulted in a devastating hip injury that ruined what potentially could have been a career as a perennial All Star.

Maybe Joe Mauer would make a better measuring stick to compare with Bubba Starling.  Joe played football, basketball, and baseball for his high school team, just like Bubba.  He was drafted upon his high school graduation, just like Bubba.  He was the first pick in the 2001 draft while Bubba was the 1^st non-pitcher taken in the 2011 draft.

Mauer was the USA Today High School baseball player of the year in 2001, but because he grew up playing multiple sports, in a cold climate (St. Paul, MN) where he couldn’t practice baseball for several months of the year (sounds similar to Bubba, doesn’t it?), Joe’s baseball talents were not as well refined as someone like Bryce Harper.  Because of this, Joe ended up playing parts of 4 seasons in the minors.  When he debuted with the 2004 Twins at 21 years of age, in 35 games he blistered the ball at a .308 clip.  Since then, he’s led the league in hitting 3 times, he’s been an All Star 4 times,  he’s won 3 Gold Gloves, and he threw in an MVP season too just for good measure.  Refinement complete.

I’d like to think that we can expect a similar timetable for Bubba Starling’s development and hopefully similar results.  Bubba said as much to Ashley Marshall of MiLB.com last week when he indicated he expected to arrive in Kansas City within 3-4 years.  Unfortunately, Bubba signed too late last summer to obtain any significant professional experience in 2011 so it became somewhat of a lost year for his development track.  This seems to occur frequently with a large percentage of high caliber talent during the Scott Boras era.

Based on what we know of Starling’s skill sets and the track record of similarly talented athletes, I’m hopeful that we may see him as a September call-up in 2013 and possibly a mid-season promotion in 2014.  I don’t want to rush Bubba, but I’m a little anxious because as of today, we don’t know for sure what we have in Lorenzo Cain.  With only 181 major league at bats, MLB Radio Network’s Inside Pitch has already proclaimed Cain one of the most overrated players of 2012.  (I’m surprised they’ve even heard of him so I’m shocked they would say he was overrated.)  If “The Painkiller” performs well, then this should take the pressure off Bubba and allow him to develop at his own pace.  If not, then the Royals will either need to rush Starling along, or find another Melky Cabrera type player to sign for a year or two to hold his place.

I see nothing but high ceiling potential and a positively bright future for Bubba Starling in a Royals uniform.  That is, except for one hopefully remote possibility.  Let’s just pray he doesn’t ever decide to take up football as a hobby.

Thanks for visiting Kings of Kauffman. You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.  You can also send your questions to our mailbag at KoKMailbag@gmail.com and follow Alan Barrington on Twitter to be notified each time he posts a story and receive his incredibly insightful sports commentary.

Piazza certainly had a rough go of it behind the plate defensively, but his bat was solid enough to keep him there because it was so strong relative to other catchers.  Myers projects to be a similar type of hitter (though more of a pure hitter with power than a power hitter like Piazza) and his bat would probably enable him to stay behind the plate and still be an elite player at the position, but he, like Jesus Montero of the Yankees, was never expected to stick as a backstop.

But back to the question.  Would Myers turn out worse defensively than Piazza?

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I briefly looked at Grandal as a draft option on Kings of Kauffman a couple of weeks ago.  Wally’s most recent mock draft of the first round on Call To The Pen had Grandal going to San Diego at #9.
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Thankfully, this year there’s a good amount of talent loaded in the first round, so no matter who Kansas City selects, they should get a good prospect. But which direction should they go?
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First off, I promised a Greinke article a while back and it hasn’t happened.  The article is still in the works, but it has changed directions a number of times from my original intent.  This morphing has slowed my research and writing process, but the article will get published at some point before the start of the season.  I also mentioned a while back that I was going to write the second installment of my Draft Recall series.  Based on other Royals specific articles I have lined up to write, I’m probably going to move that series over to Call to the Pen when the site is launched.  A third research intensive article I have on my list to write is another edition of Central Processing that will examine what we might expect from the Royals this season, in relation to the AL Central.  I know that makes it sound like a season preview, but it’s not.  Once I get it published it will all make sense.

In the next two weeks I should finish revealing the top-9 Royals prospects in the 2010 KoK rankings.  The profile for prospect number nine should be published tomorrow night if all goes well.  In addition to the prospect profile tomorrow, I should have another edition of From the Fish Pond posted at some point this weekend.  By the time Monday morning rolls around, I hope that five new articles, not counting this one, will be up on the site for your enjoyment.

It is a lofty goal considering I have to head into the office for the entire day on Sunday and my writing time tomorrow will be mostly limited to the evening.  My wife has to work and I will be entertaining my sons during the morning and afternoon hours.

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In addition to linking to some of the recent stories for each of the active MLB sites on our network, I thought I would include “help wanted” notes on the sites where we need help.  If you want to write for a team where we have an opening, please send an email to fansided@gmail.com.

Call to the Pen: Planning and preparation for the launch of our new general MLB site continues on.  We now have five of our seven featured contributors locked, loaded and raring to go as soon as the site is launched.  I’m hoping to get the other two in place in the very near future, but sadly spare time is in short supply right now.  As I mentioned above, the Draft Recall series will be moving from KoK to CttP because the focus of my weekly column will be the draft.

Birds Watcher: Michael W. is our current Baltimore Orioles lead but he needs help and wants to transition to contributor slot.  Therefore, we are looking for a lead writer for this site.  Please contact us at the above email address if you are interested.

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BoSox Injection: Nomar Garciaparra – A Member of the Red Sox Once Again

Chicken Friars: A Quick Scouting Report on Top Prospect Simon Castro

Cubbies Crib: 25 Man Roster Is Beginning to Shape Up

Deep Left Field: RIP Jeremy Sowers’ Career

Frisco Fastball: Giants Running Through Cactus League

Halo Hangout: The Fans Predict Our Playoff Chances

Jays Journal: Bryce Harper with the Jays?

Lasorda’s Lair: We are looking for help to cover the Los Angeles Dodgers for Lasorda’s Lair.

Marlin Maniac: Bullpen regression versus Nolasco regression

Motor City Bengals: Leyland Lays Down the Law

Nolan Writin’: Should the Rangers or will the Rangers keep Ron Washington as their skipper after the 2010 season?

Rayhawk Review: Could Hellickson Land Rotation Spot?

Redbird Rants: Penny, Craig star in St. Louis’ victory over Washington

Reviewing the Brew: Do you love the Milwaukee Brewers?  Do you love to write?  If so, why not contact us about becoming the lead writer on Reviewing the Brew?

Rising Apple: What Should the Mets Do with Ike Davis?

Rox Pile: We are looking for a new lead writer to cover the Colorado Rockies, contact us if interested.

Rum Bunter: Pirates Coach Hates Couches

Sodo Mojo: Another Jarrod Washburn Post

Swingin’ A’s: A’s Analysis – Starting Rotation

Teddy Never Wins: Teddy is lonely.  Teddy needs a lead blogger.  If you are interested in writing about the Washington Nationals please contact us and make Teddy happy in the process.

That Balls Outta Here: It’s a “Joe Blanton, Surprise Whiskey” Friday!

Tomahawk Take: Braves Preseason Review – Troy Glaus Feeling Healthy

Twinkie Talk: About the Joe Nathan Situation

Venom Strikes: Upton Goes Yard Again, Helps Dbacks Win

Yanks Go Yard: Nick Johnson’s back still hurts … from carrying the offense

(Wally Fish is the lead blogger for Kings of Kauffman and FanSided’s MLB Director.  Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)