Bryce Harper dominated Triple-A last night, plus an updated timetable for his return to the Phillies
The Phillies have been playing without Bryce Harper since June 25th. Last night, the reigning NL MVP was in Lehigh Valley for his first rehab game and all things considered, picked up right where he left off before hitting in the injured list.
Harper went 2-for-3 last night with two home runs and two walks.
Bryce Harper Home Run No. 1
Bryce Harper Home Run No. 2
Harper was in the midst of another MVP campaign before getting hurt, batting .318 with 15 home runs and 48 RBI. He had a .984 OPS over 64 games and ranked fifth in the National League in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage (.385) and second in slugging percentage (.599).
Of course, social media went crazy saying that it was time to bring Harper back up to the big leagues after last night, but it looks like we are still roughly a week away from seeing Harper with the Phillies.
Following last night’s win, Rob Thomson spoke with the media and said Harper could possibly return as early as next Monday when the Phillies face the Arizona Diamondbacks.
If Harper doesn’t make the jump for the D-Backs, then it’s very likely we’ll see him against the San Francisco Giants on September 2nd, which would be the first game of the next series on the road for the Phillies.
More from Bryce Harper after last night’s rehab game via Todd Zolecki and the Phillies website:
“It’s always a goal to have in mind, where you want to be and what you want to do,” Harper said Sunday about his return, which was previously pegged for some time during the road trip. “But we don’t know until I play [rehab games]. We can all talk about when and where, but we just don’t know until I play and how I feel with contact and things like that.
“I’m going to be smart with it. I’m going to be very smart with it and come back when I see fit and when my hand is feeling better and I can help this team every day and not just play two days, one day off, play two days, one day off. I’m going to come back at full strength playing.”
Harper said Sunday that his thumb feels about 80-85 percent like normal.
