I don’t like the updates we’re getting on Bryce Harper’s elbow right now – not one bit

I’ll just say it — I don’t like the updates we’re getting on Bryce Harper’s elbow right now. Not one bit. Maybe I’m permanently scarred from years of Sixers injury reports that read like they were written with a Magic 8 Ball, but this whole thing feels a little too vague and uncertain for my liking.

Here’s where things currently stand with Bryce Harper

The Philadelphia Phillies got punked in their own ballpark by the Atlanta Braves. Spencer Strider hit Bryce Harper in the elbow. There was no retaliation. Now Bryce Harper is hurt but not in the official injury list.

Bryce Harper was removed from the game after being hit by a pitch in the right elbow pic.twitter.com/mRjQUMrvQ0
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 27, 2025

When Bryce Harper spoke about it, he said that Spencer Strider didn’t even reach out. That tells me everything I need to know about the retaliation debate. It should have happened. It needed to happen. It didn’t.

Now, Harper is missing his third straight game since taking that Strider fastball off the elbow. He’s still “super sore,” still swollen, still not swinging a bat — and while he and Rob Thomson are saying they “hope” to avoid an IL stint, neither sounded overly confident.

“I hope not,” Harper said when asked if the IL was coming.

“I don’t think so,” Thomson said, adding that Harper needs to get the swelling out and be pain-free.

That’s fine, but we’re four days removed from the injury and he’s not close to swinging. If this were something minor, you’d expect more progress by now.

Instead, it’s a lot of “wait and see.”

Now, to be fair — at this point in the MLB season, the casual “wait and see” approach isn’t abnormal. Teams are still playing the long game, and it’s not like they’re about to risk Harper’s long-term health for a few extra May/June ABs.

The real grind of the season starts now. June 1 is basically Opening Day 2.0 for baseball. The standings get real. The games start feeling more meaningful.

That’s exactly why this situation needs to be monitored closely.

We’re entering the part of the year where this fanbase — and this team — needs to lock in and get serious. Harper is too important to this lineup to have any lingering elbow issue drag on into the heart of the summer.

This is the same elbow he had Tommy John surgery on after the 2022 season.

Every little setback here needs to be treated carefully.

I’m not saying this is some catastrophic thing. Maybe in a few days, the swelling subsides, Harper is swinging again, and this all looks like a minor blip. But right now? The updates feel non-committal. No timeline. No real clarity on how close he is to returning.

And after years of Sixers “he’s progressing well” injury nonsense, I’ve got a pretty sensitive radar for when things start feeling off.

Right now, this Harper situation is pinging that radar and I wouldn’t be surprised if we see him get listed on the Injury Report “retroactive” to the day the Braves punked the Phillies on their own field.

Hopefully it’s nothing. Hopefully he’s back in the lineup soon with a new elbow guard and a vengeance. But until we start seeing real progress — and a bat in his hands — this is a story to keep a close eye on.

Because ready or not, the 2025 MLB season really starts tonight. The Phillies need Bryce Harper in the middle of this thing if they’re going to make the kind of run we all expect.

Oh…and go trade for Mike Trout. The internet is filled with idiots who think that’s a bad idea. It’s not.