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We all know the drill about moving forward and when things are going great, we stumble and fall back and have to start over again. Just as the Philadelphia Phillies were building up momentum with interim manager Rob Thomson (who may be in the running for NL Manager of the Year if he keeps this up) and working towards a wild car run, it happened. The entire Phillies organization will be scrambling in damage control-mode just to figure out how to salvage what could have been an upturning season.
The” it” was the left thumb injury to Bryce Harper against the Padres last weekend. Taking a 97-mph pitch from Blake Snell squarely and painfully smack dab on his thumb, Harper went down in obvious pain. Now, there’s little doubt this wasn’t a deliberate throw at Harper and judging by how the Padres acted, everyone was sincerely concerned for Bryce Harper’s well-being. Now, reality has started to sink in on how long Harper will be out.
Mind you, Bryce Harper has been largely limited to batting in the DH role this season because he’s already been fighting a UCL tear in his left elbow (think Tommy John surgery.) Because Harper’s an outfielder and not a pitcher, the healing process from UCL surgery would be quicker just simply because outfielder don’t throw as much and as hard continuously as pitchers in general. Adding insult to injury, Harper is now scheduled for surgery this week and it will remain to be seen if he can actually come back and play towards the end of this season.
Maybe Bryce Harper can heal up quickly and completely and still make a positive impact on the Phillies season this year. It’s’ a shame that it happened just as the Fighin’ Phills are starting to make a playoff push. Harper was batting .318 with 15 homers and 48 RBI’s just before the thumb injury and his spot at the DH role will sorely be missed. On the other hand, other Phillies like JT Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber, normally offensive minded players, will pick up the slack and provide the missing firepower now that Harper will be sitting on the bench fighting splinters for at least another month-maybe the rest of the season.
The Phillies also called up Mickey Moniak to possibly replace Harper in the outfield or at the DH role. Moniak was batting .313 at AAA Lehigh Valley and his hot bat could seriously help out the Phills’ offense right now. Sadly, for Harper, he will certainly miss the upcoming All-Star game at Dodger Stadium considering is leading the DH voting for the National League – a voting first for the senior league with the creation of the DH role. In the long run, Harper may well bounce back quickly and come back and be a factor late in the season for the Phillies. It’s hard to watch players go do with injuries which of course happen in baseball but for the Phillies, maybe waiting on Harper’s return until 2023 when he’s fully healed makes more sense. Why push a player who isn’t at 100%?
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