Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper is currently nursing a painful injury: he has a partially torn ligament (the UCL) in his elbow.
The reigning NL MVP (and Player of the Week, too) is out of the lineup for a third straight game on Wednesday, raising some concerns among the Phillies’ front office members, coaches, and certainly fans.
But he could return tomorrow if everything goes well.
The thing is that he will do so as a designated hitter: unfortunately, the Phillies won’t be able to have him on the field for a while.
“Bryce Harper is not expected to play right field before the All Star break as he was told today to not throw for six week’s from Sunday’s PRP injection. Original timeline was four weeks. Will need time to build arm strength after those six weeks before playing the field again,” the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen reported via Twitter.
Bryce Harper is not expected to play right field before the All Star break as he was told today to not throw for six week’s from Sunday’s PRP injection. Original timeline was four weeks. Will need time to build arm strength after those six weeks before playing the field again.
— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) May 18, 2022
The Phillies Will Have To Use The DH Spot Exclusively On Harper For A While
That’s less than ideal for several reasons.
First, Harper has a cannon of an arm in the outfield, and the team misses that element without him in right.
Additionally, having to use the designated hitter spot on Harper diminishes the lineup’s flexibility going forward.
Sure, there may not be a better designated hitter than Harper, but he is a fine outfielder, and having to deploy him as the DH could force the manager to sit a player he doesn’t want to sit.
In any case, having him as a DH is much better than not having him at all.
Harper is having another fine season, slashing .305/.361/.634 with nine home runs and a .995 OPS.
He could compete for his third MVP award if the injury doesn’t get in his way.
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