Bryce Harper injury update: Phillies star suffers fractured left thumb after being hit by pitch against Padres

Philadelphia Phillies batter and reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper suffered a fractured left thumb Saturday night against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park (GameTracker). Harper picked up a 97-mile fastball from Blake Snell and immediately left the game. The Phillies announced the break soon after, saying Harper will undergo additional testing in the coming days. They did not provide a timeline for his recovery.

Here is a video of the faulty pitch. Snell apologized and while Harper was obviously in pain and understandably upset, Harper appeared to tell Snell that he knows he didn’t hit him on purpose as he walked off the field.

Harper was restricted to DH duty for most of the season due to a ligament injury in his elbow. Nonetheless, he played a fantastic season, hitting a .320/.385/.602 batting line with 21 doubles and 15 home runs into Saturday’s game. He ranks seventh in extra base hits (37) and eighth in total bases (145) in baseball. Simply put, Harper is irreplaceable.

“Things happen for a reason,” Harper told reporters, including MLB.com, after the game. “Everybody says that. This reason sucks right now, but at the same time it is what it is. i have to be positive I have to be positive for the guys here. I know they’re going to pick I’m really mad at the organization, the guys, the city of Philly, the fans. I love going out there and playing every day. Definitely mad.”

Harper has had one of the best seasons of his career despite playing with a torn UCL right arm since mid-April. He hit .318 with 15 home runs, 48 RBIs and .984 OPS. He ranks fifth in the NL in batting average, sixth in on-base percentage (.385), and second in slugging percentage (.599).

The Phillies will put Harper on the 10-day injured list on Sunday. Triple-A Lehigh Valley outfielder Mickey Moniak will take his place on the roster. They hope he arrives in time for Sunday’s series finale.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson. “But they will not cancel any games. We have to play.”

Thomson said the Phillies would rotate Harper’s DH role with Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and others. But every hitter has to step up.

You know it.

“It’s devastating, to say the least,” Castellanos said. “He’s got an All-Star, MVP caliber year. Losing him for a while is too long. We all have to level up. I definitely included. To bear the weight we’re going to miss, it has to be done.

“We are where we are and we’ve won the games we’ve got and I still think there’s a better version of Rhys [Hoskins]I think there is a better version of JT [Realmuto]. There’s a much better version of me. I think it’s only a matter of time before all of these show up. When they show up at the same time, baseball can be really fun, real quick.”

Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said the Braves won the World Series last year without Ronald Acuña Jr., who sustained a season-ending knee injury on July 10.

They finished the regular season 44-29. The Padres haven’t had Fernando Tatis Jr. this season. They are 45-29.

Chase Utley broke his right hand on July 26, 2007. He returned on August 27th. The Phillies went 15-13 without him.

“I mean, you just have to do it,” said Dombrowski. “You lose good players. Again, I don’t know how long he’ll be out at this point, but hopefully he’ll come back at some point. We just have to keep going from here and do our best.” job we possibly can. We still have a lot of good batsmen in the line-up.

It’s unknown if Dombrowski will try to make an outside move to strengthen the line-up. It’s too early to say how Harper’s injury could change the team’s plans for the August 2nd trading close.

“It just happened,” Dombrowski said. “We have to see how we play. I still hope we can play well. We still have a good club.”

Harper fell to the ground as soon as the pitch hit him. It looked bad, and it was. Dombrowski and others thought it hit Harper’s face what happened to him in St. Louis in April 2021. Harper somehow walked away from this one, only with an injured forearm from the rebound.

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“I wish it had hit me in the face,” Harper said. “I don’t break bones in my face. I can take 98 in the face but I can’t take 97 in my thumb.”

Harper finally got up. He trembled as he held his thumb. He yelled at Snell in frustration. The two have known each other for years. They texted each other during the game. Harper said they are fine.

“Obviously I felt awful hitting him,” Snell said. “We talked; we handled it. It was never anything. It’s just emotional. He plays with a lot of passion and I can understand why he’s upset. I’m just as upset as he is.” “

The recovery time for some broken thumbs appears to be four to six weeks. Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson fractured his right thumb earlier this month. Giants first baseman Brandon Belt broke his thumb last September. Realmuto broke his right thumb in February 2021.

Each received an estimated four to six weeks of recovery.

But again, Harper won’t know the severity of his fracture until next week.

“I’ve never broken anything in my life,” he said. “That’s new for me. … It’s a bummer.”

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Todd Zolecki has covered the Phillies since 2003 and MLB.com since 2009. Keep following him Twitter and Facebook.

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Meanwhile, the Phillies expect Kyle Schwarber or Nick Castellanos to share DH duty with the more defensively competent Matt Vierling, who sees more stable outfield playtime. 2016 draft pick Mickey Moniak hits .279/.326/.558 in triple-A and might have a look. Of course, the Phillies could strike a deal depending on the length of Harper’s recovery.

Needless to say, the long-term loss of Harper is a devastating blow to a Phillies team trying to break into the postseason mix. They are 15-6 since replacing manager Joe Girardi with bench coach Rob Thomson earlier this month. Among National League teams during this period, only the Atlanta Braves (18-4) have a better record in the league. Sportsline puts the Phillies’ chances of making the playoffs at 17.2% if Harper is sidelined for a month.

Even with the hot streak after Girardi, the Phillies came three games behind third and final wildcard spot on Saturday. The Phillies have not been in the postseason since 2011 and have the NL’s longest postseason drought.

Bryce Harper injury update: Phillies star suffers fractured left thumb after being hit by pitch against Padres

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