The Phillies announced Monday that first baseman Bryce Harper has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. To make room on the active roster, Philadelphia designated utilityman Buddy Kennedy for assignment.
Harper missed just under four weeks due to inflammation in his wrist. He’ll be back in the heart of the Phillies’ order starting Monday, looking to improve on a .258/.368/.446 slash. That’s quality output at the plate — 26% better than average, per wRC+ — but constitutes a “down” season relative to Harper’s lofty standards.
To his credit, Harper touted a more robust .276/.382/.470 line in late May but hit only .143/.273/.286 in eight games before landing on the injured list, so it seems his wrist had been bothering him for awhile before he finally sat down to let it heal up. Manager Rob Thomson said at the time of Harper’s IL placement that the wrist had been bothering the former NL MVP for “awhile” without specifying just how long. Harper was also plunked on the elbow by a Spencer Strider heater in the middle of the eight-game slump that preceded his IL placement and missed several games in the aftermath, so it’s likely that he was pretty banged up by the time Philadelphia pulled the trigger on an IL stint.
Kennedy, 26, has now been designated for assignment twice by the Phillies this year. He’s out of minor league options and didn’t make the club out of spring training, prompting a DFA and a quick return on a minor league deal after he briefly elected free agency. He was selected back to the majors just 11 days ago and appeared in only four games, going hitless with a walk in a small sample of eight plate appearances.
Kennedy has appeared in parts of four major league seasons between the D-backs, Tigers and Phillies, but he’s only tallied 157 plate appearances in that time. He’s a .193/.287/.296 hitter at the big league level but touts a nice .281/.391/.437 slash in nearly 1600 Triple-A plate appearances. He’s primarily played second base and third base in pro ball but does have more than 400 innings at first base and 93 innings of left field work under his belt.
The Phillies can trade or waive Kennedy at any point in the next five days. Waivers are a 48-hour process, so he’ll have a resolution on his DFA within a week’s time. If Kennedy clears waivers, he’ll have the right to reject a minor league assignment in favor of free agency.