Just two months and a day after suffering a broken left thumb, Bryce Harper will return to the Phillies’ starting lineup Friday night when the team begins a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citizens Bank Park.
“It’s exciting,” manager Rob Thomson said. “One, you get a great hitter back. But he’s also healthy. That’s really important to us. Everyone knows how great a hitter he is.”
Harper will return to the Phillies’ designated hitter role and stay there the remainder of the season. A ligament tear in his elbow has prevented him from playing the outfield since mid-April.
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Thomson would not speculate as to what the batting order would look like against Pittsburgh right-hander Bryse Wilson, but it would be surprising if Harper is not in his customary No. 3 hole.
Harper was at Citizens Bank Park for indoor batting practice and treatment Thursday, but he was not available for comment. He spoke loudly, however, with his bat in two minor-league rehabilitation games at Triple A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday and Wednesday night. Harper had two homers, two doubles, a single, two walks and six RBIs in those two games. The performance said he was ready for big-league action.
Thomson spoke with Harper after a three-hit game Wednesday night. Harper propelled Lehigh Valley to a 6-5 win with a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
Playing two games for the first time in two months left Harper feeling some normal body soreness, which Thomson equated to the fifth day of spring training. Otherwise, everything was right on point.
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“He said he felt great, timing is down and he felt really comfortable in the box,” Thomson said.
The Phils have played in front of smallish crowds in their series against Cincinnati this week -- 19,166 on Monday, 20,220 on Tuesday and 24,400 on Wednesday. Harper’s return could provide a boost at the box office for the weekend series. Thomson said it was too early to tell if Harper would play in all three games, but Harper had previously indicated that he didn’t want to take days off when he returned to the big leagues.
Thomson expressed some amazement that Harper would be back just two months and a day after Blake Snell’s up-and-in fastball broke his left thumb June 25 in San Diego.
“The first game we saw him in spring training (2019), he got hit in the ankle,” Thomson recalled. “I ran in afterwards and he was on the table and all wrapped up. I asked how he would be tomorrow and he said, ‘Great. I don’t swell and I don’t break.’ I said, ‘All right, whatever.’ The next day, he takes the wrap off and there’s no swelling and no bruising after getting hit by a 97-mile per hour fastball. It was unbelievable. He’s a quick healer. Some guys are really like that.”
Five days after suffering the broken left thumb, Harper had surgery. Three pins were used to stabilize the injury and speed healing.
Harper, last season’s National League MVP, was hitting .318 with .985 OPS, 15 homers and 48 RBIs when he went down. After being eight games under .500 at the end of May, the team had already rallied back to three games over .500. The Phils continued to play winning baseball without Harper and entered Thursday night’s game in control of the NL’s second wild-card playoff spot, two games up on San Diego. The Phils entered Thursday 31-20 without Harper. He’ll rejoin the playoff race with 37 games to play. He has not been to the postseason in his previous three seasons with the Phillies and the team has not been since 2011.
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