Bryce Harper’s season could be in jeopardy after NL’s current MVP suffered a thumb fracture in Saturday’s game against Padres. Facing Blake Snell in the fourth inning, Harper had to bend down to avoid a fast 97-mile-per-hour ball that flew up and in, but the pitch still hit Harper in his left hand, leaving Philis’ weak with visible. pain.
Harper left the game immediately, and the Phillies announced shortly afterwards that initial tests revealed the fracture. More details will be known after additional tests, and baseball president Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including Matt Gelb of The Athletic) that it was too early to say whether Harper would need surgery. As such, the door is not closed for Harper’s potential return, as Dombrowski “hopes to return at some point.”
If surgery is needed, Harper is in danger of missing the rest of the campaign in 2022. Although each specific injury is different, by comparison, Jean Segura was given a recovery period of 10-12 weeks after the second Philadelphia player suffered a fracture. on his finger in late May and had to undergo surgery.
Segura’s loss was a brutal enough outcome for Phils, but the team recovered to publish its best month of the season. The Philistines had a record 22-29 under former manager Joe Girardi, but after Girardi was sacked and Rob Thomson was promoted from bench coach to interim manager, Philadelphia quickly moved 15-6 over Thomson’s first 21 games as captain.
This series brought back the Phillies over 0.500 (37-35) to focus on tonight’s action and three wild card games in the NL. However, it is difficult to imagine Philadelphia remaining in the race without Harper’s contribution to the overall unfavorable squad. After Harper and Segura left, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins are the only regular players to hit well above average.
Harper was already playing through the pain as a small tear from UCL limited him to DH on duty for more than two months. In the big picture, Harper’s monopolization of DH did not help Philadelphia, as Schwarber and Nick Castellanos were forced to play daily roles in the outfield, much to the detriment of Phyllis’ defense. (And probably the violation of Castellanos, as he had an awkward year in the plate.) The positive side is that Harper’s own bat is still burning as he delivered 15 home runs and a .320 / .385 / .602 slash line in match tonight against Padres.
The rupture of Harper’s UCL further complicates matters. If Phils lags behind in the race after the season, Harper may decide to stop postponing the inevitable and have elbow surgery, thus closing it for 2022, but will probably ensure that he misses little or nothing of the season. 2023
Injuries have long been part of Harper’s career, but he has been relatively resilient in recent years, playing in 515 of the possible 546 games from 2018-21. Throughout this, Harper continued to produce at the Cooperstown level, including his MVP campaign last year. After previously winning NL MVP medals with national teams in 2015, Harper became the fifth player in baseball history to win a multi-team MVP by hitting .309 / .429 / .615 with 35 home runs and 42 doubles. in the league with Phyllis last season.
Unfortunately, this production can only help Phils reach a record of 82-80 – enough to break a series of nine consecutive seasons without a win, but not enough to bring the club back to the playoffs. Harper’s 13-year contract for $ 330 million makes him an easy target for criticism, but Phyllis’ lack of success on the field is hardly Harper’s fault, given his huge numbers for more than three years in Philadelphia.
In the short term, Harper’s absence frees up DH’s place for temporary use of Schwarber / Castellanos, which could allow for a major protective upgrade. Dombrowski said that Mickey Moniac was called to take Harper’s place in the active list, although Moniac is hardly an ideal solution for everyday life. For now, Phyllis’ plan seems to be that one of Castellanos or Schwarber in DH is in the regular squad, the other in the corner end field and the rotation of Moniac, Odubel Herrera and Matt Virling, covering the other two off-field positions. Down the farm, Scott Kingery, Justin Williams, Jorge Bonifacio and Dustin Peterson are all options, although no one is on the list of 40 people.
The exchange would be one way for Phyllis to deal with the situation, as even if Harper is gone for the season, Phylls will not immediately unfurl the white flag for their chances of finally ending their land in the playoffs. However, Dombrowski can wait for Harper’s status before determining the extent of his future move – if Harper manages to avoid surgery, it could increase Phyllis’ chances of acquiring a more proven daily outfielder, rather than a complementary figure.
For Phillies fans looking for a silver lining, the obvious involvement is Braves 2021, who were just 44-44 when Ronald Acuna Jr. broke the ACL last July 10th. Eddie Rosario, Joe Pederson, Adam Duvall and Jorge Soler before the trading deadline and eventually reached the World Series Championship.
While it may be an exaggeration to think that a similar scenario could happen to another NL East team in a second straight season, Dombrowski is no stranger to aggressive line-ups. The way Phyllis recovered in June has breathed new life into the team’s season and it will take an immediate and sudden downturn for Philadelphia to switch to seller mode before the deadline.
Photo courtesy of Sports images of USA Today
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