Bryce Harper will miss his third straight game for the Phillies tonight, as the outfielder continues to recover from a PRP injection over the weekend. The small tear in Harper’s UCL has left the NL MVP battling elbow discomfort for almost the entire season, and he hasn’t played in the outfield since April 16.
Unfortunately for Harper and the Phillies, it will be even longer until we see Harper back on the grass, as manager Joe Girardi told reporters (including Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia) that Harper has now been shut down from throwing for six weeks. Doctors initially gave Harper a four-week shutdown, but with this added time, it will now be until late July or early August before Harper is able to play the outfield, between the shutdown period and then a ramp-up period.
The good news is that Harper has been able to stay in the lineup as the designated hitter, and his production hasn’t been slowed whatsoever by his elbow problem. Harper is batting .305/.361/.634 over 147 plate appearances, leading the NL in slugging percentage and tied for the NL lead with nine home runs. (He also entered today’s action tied for the Major League lead with 14 doubles.)
Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos have been locked into everyday corner outfield roles with Harper filling the DH spot, making for a less-than-ideal defensive alignment for the Phillies. Since Castellanos and Schwarber are both hitting well, the Phils can only hope that the offensive production outweighs any defensive shortcomings until Harper is able to return to regular right field duty.
Worst outfield defense in baseball but they can hit.
The problem is, they really haven’t been hitting consistently.
Especially the guy at first base
Even though the Phillies seem to love Hoskins, I think Schwarber is the LH version of Hoskins.
Streaky, whose #’s will look better at the end of the season versus the overall performance…….He’s signed for 3 more years, so I expect Hoskins to leave…
Well, Schwarbs has never been consistent and never will be. Like a lot of power hitters, he can be very streaky. Although he had his best season last year.
This is why you don’t sign two DH’s when you already had two DHs on the team. Always assume injuries. Now they have 5 DHs. It’s also why you don’t sign any player to a 13 year contract to everyone gets hurt.
I don’t think anyone in Philly is complaining about Harper’s term. Agreed on the DH dilemma though.
As awesome as Harper is now, there is likely to be plenty of complaints in the future as he declines.
Wouldn’t that statement be true of literally any player though?
Any player with a long contract, yes, absolutely.
Luckily Harper is still only 29, but yes of course the later years aren’t going to be great. The contract was structured with that in mind. If the Phils get 3-5 more years of what they’ve been getting, I think the contract was a bargain. Not to mention all the tickets sales and merch they already sold.
Huge mistake to get shot. Since he was playing well and will be a dh into August anyway should have waited until off-season or all star break. Another fine decision explaining why this team is never successful.
Schwarbers hitting well?
Not for average but he does have 9 homers.
Schwarber has been terrible at the plate. 9 homers aside, he’s not getting on base at all, something he usually does well. Of course in the field he’s been a mess, but at least that was expected. I wasn’t a fan of the Schwarber signing. I just didn’t see him as a fit, and he’s not winning me over. I know he’s a notoriously slow starter, but it’s almost June and his at bats have been horrific.
Check out Ozuna & Duvall & the rest of the Braves. Who needs AC when you have the breeze from these guys swinging & missing
Yeah, the new definition of “hitting well” doesn’t sit well with me… You used to actually have to, ya know, hit well, otherwise you were Steve Balboni, a DH who could hit a home run every now and again.
Keep in mind, I use an old reference as a young(er) person in here so I’m criticizing my own generation.
The definition of what constitutes a good hitter keeps regressing.
Harper keeps regressing? I personally don’t see it. He was the NL player of the week.
People will always hate on Harper. He is severely underrated in recent years.
Harper is *not* underrated. He won the MVP. Maybe under-appreciated? Over-criticized by opposing fans? But Harper is one of the best players in MLB (top 5, imo, perennially) and recognized as such by MLB universally.
The above comment was referencing Schwarber “hitting well” simply because he has socked 9 HRs.
…and one of the worst contracts to ever give a player who has never earned it with his numbers
Perhaps that’s true to this point, I don’t know what your measure is; but nearly all the position player contracts near his price point have been relative fails thus far, ie, Lindor, Correa, Seager, Semien, etc.
Pretty sure he was referring to Schwarber.
This is why you dont sign 2 guys that can’t play the outfield to be your everyday starters. Teams should act like the DH spot is used for resting players. Signing two DHs and acting like you can just swap them game by game just isn’t gonna work longterm
They needed two big bats in the lineup. They signed the best two available. I don’t think they would’ve been better off with a defense first outfield. They have too many holes. The Phillies problem is quite simple: they’ve failed to develop, draft and scout for years.
Really their defense is bad, but it’s not the reason for their current record. I think it’s actually a bit overblown how bad their defense is. They haven’t been hitting outside of a few blips. And of course their bullpen has been a nightmare.
I get it. The easy blanket statement at the end of the year is going to be about the Phillies bad defense, but if you watch all the games, that’s far from the main issue. They just aren’t clicking. Every time they do click, something else goes wrong and they slump for awhile. They looked like a WS contender against the Dodgers in LA only to play like a Little League team back in Philly against the Pads.
At the end of the day they’re beating themselves far too much.
I agree with everything you said except from what I’ve seen from the Phillies, almost every game they give up about 2 runs due to errors. I could be wrong since I’ve really only seen them play vs the Mets and some “highlights”. Good defense is always sustainable while good hitting is not, which is why their strategy is flawed
The Mets games were so messy. So you happened to see the worse of the Phillies defense, and that’s going to pop up from time to time, but look at the combined no hitter game. The Mets didn’t play significantly well. In fact, I think the Phillies had better at bats, but they just didn’t hit. And the Mets took advantage as good teams do. And then look at the Mets comeback win. Another game where the Phillies were the better team, but the Mets took advantage of Girardi’s idiotic decisions and a terrible bullpen.
The Mets are clearly a better team than the Phillies right now. I’m not debating that at all. But the Phillies really should have won about 4 or 5 more against the Mets than they did. The Phillies keep getting in their own way. Whether it’s the lackluster offense, baffling Girardi decisions, horrific defense, or a nightmare bullpen…the Phillies problem changes every night. So yes the defense stinks, but that’s hardly the only problem.
The Phillies defense has been better than expected so far this year. They are below average, but not really bad. Castallanos has done a pretty decent job in rf. He had one rough series in Coors Field, earlier in the year, otherwise he has been ok. Schwarber is better than Mc Cutchen was last year in left. As Von Hayes said, he has been very inconsistant at the plate, with a low obp. J T hasn’t hit all year, and Hoskins has always been very streaky. Camargo has done a good job filling in at ss for Di Di. That is a major defensive upgrade. Di Di probably covers less ground than any other starting ss in baseball. He must hit well, to make himself at least a nuetral player. The bullpen, and the team offensive funks, are the main reasons the Phillies are still below .500.
This team reminds me of all those Tigers teams, loaded offensively, with the talent to win, but for now at least….just not getting it done….
People are calling for Girardi’s job…but if he goes, which I doubt….who is available?
Dusty Wathan
the only answer
Sounds like Dave Martinez will be!
Whatta stupid team. Any club that chooses to not play defense deserves the cellar.
Hahah. I actually like this comment. They’re in 2nd place in a weak division and had a very rough schedule. There’s reason to be positive, but there’s good reason to make fun of them as well.
Hot take, I get it…..But the starting staff is much improved (look at Nola’s #’s…!), the bullpen, while still suspect, is much better than last season…..2 pluses…for sure…
Guess Dombrowski felt doubling down on offense was the best course of action w/o losing Abel/Painter….
I see some Phillies fans are waning and trolls are trolls….So am (blindly) placing faith in the adage that the offense will heat up when the weather does….
Only thing I disagree with is the pen looking better. The pen looks worse IMO.
the pen absolutely does not look worse
I could be wrong, but I have close family that lives near Philly (Cherry Hill) & have been Philly fans their whole lives.
My assessment of Philly is much like NYY this year – I think, objectively, Phillies were in a unique position because the guys that aren’t performing, just as easily could’ve been performing very well. So, all things equal, the Phillies team on paper should be performing better, particularly on offense, enough to compensate for other areas of weaknesses and win games. Combine that with the completely unpredictable dead baseball issue, and I’m not sure this could’ve been predicted.
Add in that some key prospects haven’t worked out as planned and Philly was clearly relying on them to take strides forward this year too.
Just my observations – could be way off on that
The deadball issue cannot be overstated. Teams that went all-in on power hitters got screwed over. Phillies are certainly one of those teams.
Von, what are your thoughts on Stott & Bohm. Is my perception off about Phillies reliance on them this year? Seems they came up a bit short from what was anticipated/expected.
@Yankee Clipper Bohm has matured quite a bit and despite a bad defensive start, he’s really picked it up. He’s been one of the Phillies most consistent hitters so offense was never really an issue. His defense is trending up, but you can’t help but be a littler nervous with him at the hot corner. As for Stott, the complete opposite. A really solid defender, He was crushing the ball in Spring Training, but has had trouble catching up to MLB pitching. I think he’ll adjust and turn into a decent player, but nothing All-Star Caliber. He may need a bit more time in the minors once Didi comes back from injury.
They are under .500 and not looking too good. The bullpen is horse crap once again. Their best player cannot play the field and Rhys Hoskins looks clueless once again after a wonderful series against a team outside of the division
the bullpen has mostly been fine outside of the Dodgers series.
I have to disagree there. Mets crushed our pen.
that one game sucked but also kinda was an outlier.
Padres sweep
I don’t think Wheeler is going to allow that to happen.
allphilly you were right. beautifully pitched game. this offense needs to get going though.
Wheeler is the stopper this team hasn’t had since at least Lee’s last year and maybe even before that.
PHI is currently 17th in MLB. They’re a middle of the pack team now and they’ll be a middle of the pack team all year. I don’t see how they could be anything else with their poor defense that can crop up at any time and their shallow pitching staff. They’ll be reconstructing this team in the offseason (not rebuilding, reconstructing). Book it.
17th in what……record…?
Offense is stats-wise top 5..
Pitching / defense looks to be @20….
They are a middle of the pack team for now, sure…but one whose roster is still seriously in the playoff hunt….
Their starting pitching staff has been solid. Their run differential is good. Their expected win % is good. They’ve had some bad luck. Their offense isn’t hot yet. Their pen and defense are bad. This team is much better than their record shows, but I’m not sure if that’s enough for a wildcard.
Schwarber played better-than-expected defense in LF during his short time with the Nats. I don’t know how he’s doing with the Phillies but he can be acceptable on D.
They made a bad decision doing the PRP injection at that specific time. First of all, he was super hot at the time and reigning NL player of the week. Secondly, the injury wasn’t gonna get any worse with him not throwing/ playing outfield. And lastly, PRP injections are a real $&@?!… I’ve had 2 and it takes time for the injection site to feel better. It’s injected almost directly at the affected area and it’s a large gauge needle that’s used. Just my thoughts on it.
Thanks for your personal clarification….I was wondering myself @timing of injection….and the ramifications…..? Clearly 3 days + was a known result…?
They did announce when he was getting it that he’d be out 2-5 games.
Yeah, it’s just soreness and a bit of swelling around the area for a few days. They know the time frame of recovery, absent an atypical reaction. There is a little discomfort during and after the shot, but he will be right as rain in 3 or 4 days. They’re very predictable.
Dude just came in and man handled my Dodgers in LA, and he was hurt? Geez. Hoping he’s out a few more days so we don’t get him in Philly.