Washington Nationals prospect and future franchise savior Bryce Harper is currently struggling at Double-A Harrisburg. He has only gotten six hits in 35 at-bats after ten games with the Nationals' double-A affiliate.
The 18-year-old was promoted to play for the Senators of the Eastern League directly from the Nats' low single-A affiliate, the Hagerstown Suns of the South Atlantic League, skipping over the Nationals' advanced single-A affiliate, the Potomac Nationals of the Carolina League.
Harper is without an extra-base hit in double-A and his OPS barely reaches .400, which, according The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore, is just the latest example of Harper struggling upon joining a new league. He did it at junior college and the South Atlantic League as well.
So what does it mean that this supposed phenom is off to such a terrible start with his new ball club? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
The jump from single-A to double-A is widely considered to be the hardest transition in baseball outside of being promoted to the big leagues. The fact that Harper skipped a league in the process and is now the youngest player in the Eastern League make his struggles even more excusable.
Harper tends to struggle at every transition before adjusting to the competition and using his natural talent to succeed. A 10-game slump in double-A is no reason to think this level of play will be any different for him.