Bryce Harper Deals With High Expectations Julio Cortez/Associated Press Bryce Harper at the Washington Nationals' camp, where he is a candidate for the starting job in right field. Harper was the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft. KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Bryce Harper grew up in Las Vegas, far from a major league ballpark, but he was so busy playing that he could not have seen many games anyway. For inspiration, he looked backward. His favorite players were Pete Rose and George Brett. He admired their hard-nosed style of play. Rose is a fixture in Las Vegas, where he signs autographs at a casino, but Harper said he had never met him. Harper spoke once by phone with Brett, but he did not pester Brett for advice. "I don't like to bother those guys," Harper said. They've been there, done that. Harper has not played a game in the majors, but his fame outstrips that of most veterans. He is baseball's top prospect, with a very real chance to break camp as the starting right fielder for the Washington Nationals. He is the prodigy of his generation, so talented that he left high school after his sophomore year, earned his G.E.D., played a year in junior college and became the first overall pick in the 2010 draft. "I saw A-Rod in high school," said Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo, the former Arizona Diamondbacks scouting director. I saw Justin Upton in high school and took him. I've seen all the great ones, and he's in that conversation. In 109 games last season between Class A Hagerstown and Class AA Harrisburg, Harper hit .297 with 17 homers, 58 runs batted in and 26 stolen bases. The numbers were evidence of his unquestioned all-around skills, but there were complications. After one of Harper's home runs, he blew a kiss to the opposing pitcher. He was ejected from another game for firing his helmet to the ground after a called third strike. Both incidents were caught on video and fueled a narrative that has built since he posed for the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2009, at age 16. The headline was "Baseball's Chosen One," and with it came an image that Harper is somehow entitled to stardom. He has come under criticism for everything from his favorite sports teams - the Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Lakers, Duke basketball - to choosing the name Swag for his chocolate lab puppy. It was probably no coincidence that Harper shut down his Twitter account last week, shortly after Manager Davey Johnson urged players to be careful when using social media. Harper said he simply wants to focus on playing. "People need to realize that he's 19," said Ryan Zimmerman, the Nationals" third baseman. Think back: What were you doing when you were 19? It's a pretty big social jump, and he's getting thrown into the fire. He's said some things in the past that weren't malicious, weren't anything crazy, they were just, you know, a 19-year-old. I mean, this year it's been way less than last year, and next year it'll be way less, and the year after that you won't have to worry about it. People need to be cautious about what they say about him, because they don't realize how young he is and what he's going through. In Zimmerman, who recently signed a $100 million contract extension to stay in Washington through 2019, the Nationals have a clubhouse leader to ease Harper's transition to the majors. This is Harper's second major league spring training, and he said he has leaned on veterans for advice. "Just come out here and play hard, be Bryce, don't try to change for anybody, play the game like you know how to play and good things will work out," Harper said, explaining his teammates" message. That's pretty much the best thing they gave me. Harper must navigate the delicate clubhouse code of respecting veterans while keeping the confidence that he belongs among them. Rizzo said many prospects exude outward confidence but lack it inwardly. Harper has both. In that way, he differs from starter Stephen Strasburg, the Nationals" other phenom. Strasburg was the No. 1 overall pick out of San Diego State in 2009, but he was undrafted out of high school and is naturally shy and stoic, with little use for the spotlight. Harper is comfortable with it, savvy enough to conduct interviews with ease while staying rigidly on message: all he wants to do, he says repeatedly, is play hard, respect the game and help the Nationals win.