SAN DIEGO – The Phillies season has changed with one pitch on Saturday night in Petco Park.
Bryce Harper broke his left thumb when he hit Blake Snell’s 97.2 mph fastball in the fourth inning. Harper doesn’t know how long he will miss or need surgery. You will feel better about that after following another experiment in Philadelphia.
“It’s just a punch,” Harper said after Phillies’ 4-2 victory over the Padres.
Whenever you miss a big hit. There is no substitute for the ruling NL MVP.
“Things happen for a reason,” Harper said. “Everyone says so. This reason is difficult at the moment, but at the same time, it is what we are. I have to be positive. I have to be positive for the guys here. I know they will live in poverty. I’m very upset about the organization, the boys, the city of Philadelphia, the fans. I like to run out of there and play every day. I am truly sorry. ”
Harper had an excellent season of his career, although he has played since mid-April with a broken UCL in his right arm. He was hitting .318 with 15 home runs, 48 RBI and .984 OPS. He is ranked fifth in the NL in terms of strike rate, ranked sixth on on-base (.385) and second on slugging percentage (.599).
The Phillies will add Harper to their 10-day injury list on Sunday. Triple-A Lehigh Valley player Mickey Moniak will take his place on the list. They hope he arrives on time for the series, which ends on Sunday.
“It’s a difficult pill to swallow,” said Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson. “But they will not cancel any games. We have to play. ”
Thomson said the Phillies will alternate the role of Harper’s DH with Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and others. But everyone who hits will need to go up.
They know it.
“It’s sad, to say the least,” Castellanos said. “You have an All-Star year, an MVP-caliber. Losing him at any time too long. We all have to go up. Me, I’m definitely included. Carrying the remaining weight, should be done.
“We are where we are and we have won the games we have, and I still think there is a better version of Rhys [Hoskins], I think there is a better version of J.T. [Realmuto]. There is my best version. I think it is only a matter of time before all of them appear. If they appear at the same time, baseball can be really fun, very fast. ”
Baseball president Phillies Dave Dombrowski said the Braves won the World Series last year with the exception of Ronald Acuña Jr., who suffered a knee injury that lasted the season on July 10.
They finished the regular season 44-29. The Padres did not have Fernando Tatis Jr. this season. They are 45-29.
Chase Utley broke his right hand on July 26, 2007. He returned on August 27. The Phillies passed 15-13 without him.
“I mean, you have to do that,” Dombrowski said. “He loses good players. Also, I do not know how long you will be staying at this time, but, hopefully, you will be back at some point. We just need to move on from here and do the best we can. We still have many good strikers on the list. ”
It is unknown at this time what he will do after leaving the post. It is too early to say how Harper’s injury could change the team’s plans for Aug. 2 Trade.
“This has just happened,” Dombrowski said. “We have to see how we play. I still hope we play well. We still have a good team. ”
Harper fell to the ground as soon as the pitch hit him. It looked bad, and it did. Dombrowski and others think it hit Harper’s face, which happened to him in April 2021 in St. Louis. Harper somehow moved away from the one with the only injured arm in the ricochet.