Latest on Bryce Harper Injury, All-Star Voting
The Phillies split a four game series against the Mets over the weekend. Realistically, they should have swept the Mets but I digress. They remain five games back of New York, who sit atop of the National League East standings in first place.
Bryce Harper was injured in Saturday’s game after taking a 91.6mph changeup from Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom off the dirty and to his leg during Saturday’s 4-3 loss in New York City. On Sunday, Harper missed his 20th game of the season because of injury. He has dealt with a nagging back injury, shoulder issues, a wrist injury caused by taking a fastball to the face, and now leg swelling.
After Sunday’s game, Joe Girardi stated that Harper is day-to-day again and will be reevaluated in Cincinnati today before Spencer Howard and the Phillies take the mound in a makeup game against the Reds.
Even while missing 20 games on the season, Harper is slashing .272/.385/.492 with an .875 OPS. He has 11 home run, all of which are solo, and 21 RBI. In comparison to his teammates, Rhys Hoskins has 16 home runs and 43 RBI. Andrew McCutchen has 13 home runs and 40 RBI.
Bryce Harper Solo Home Run (11) vs Mets
Still, Harper finds himself as one of the nine finalists to make the National League All-Star team as an outfielder. Second round voting for All-Star selections will start today at noon and go until Thursday at 2pm. You can vote here.
Taking a closer look at the voting, Harper is currently in seventh place among the remaining outfielders, so he may be a long shot to make the final list. However, the “Bryce Harper” brand is relatively strong across Major League Baseball and might propel him to Colorado for the All-Star Game on July 13th.
This season, the MLB has switched things up, with players having a version of their team’s uniform instead of just NL or AL. The Phillies released their version, which were less than stellar to say the very least. You can check those out here.
Spencer Howard is on the mound tonight for the Phillies against the Reds. The team will then head home for six games straight, three against the Miami Marlins and three against the San Diego Padres.
