Bryce Harper fractures of the left thumb

Bryce HarperHis season could be in jeopardy, after the Premier League’s best player suffered a broken thumb in Saturday’s game against Padres. Confrontation Blake Snell In the fourth inning, Harper had to bend to avoid a fastball at 97 mph sailing up and in, but the field still hit Harper with his left hand, leaving the Phillies player in visible pain.

Harper immediately left the game, and the Phillies announced shortly thereafter that preliminary tests had revealed the fracture. More details will be known after more testing is conducted, Chief Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski told reporters (including Matt Gelb the athlete) It’s too early to tell if Harper will need surgery. As such, the door is not closed on Harper’s potential return, as Dombrowski is “theHope to come back sometime. “

If surgery is required, Harper is at risk of missing out on the remainder of the 2022 campaign. While every injury is different, for comparison’s sake, Jean Segura was given recovery timeline 10 to 12 weeks after the second Philadelphia businessman broke his finger in late May and had to undergo surgery.

Segura’s loss was a tough enough result for Phils, and yet the team rebounded to declare their best month of the season. Velez had a 22-29 record under the previous manager Joe Girardibut after Gerardi was fired and Rob Thompson promoted from bench coach to interim manager, Philadelphia immediately went 15-6 in the round over Thompson’s first 21 games as captain.

That run put the Phillies back over the 0.500 mark (37-35) heading into tonight’s event, and three games of the NL wild card berth. However, it’s hard to imagine Philadelphia staying in the race without Harper’s contributions to the disappointing lineup. With Harper and Segura out, Kyle Schwarber And the Reese Hoskins They are the only regular players to score well above average.

Harper has already been playing through the pain, as a small tear in the UCL has confined him to DH duty for over two months. In the big picture, Harper’s monopoly on the DH spot didn’t help Philadelphia, as did Schwarber and Nick Castellanos They were forced into daily turns in the outer corner, at the expense of the Velez defence. (And perhaps Castellanos’ offense, as he’s had a disappointing year on the board.) On the plus side, Harper’s racket himself is still on fire, carrying 15 home runs and a .320/.385/.602 slash in tonight’s game against Padres.

Harper’s rupture in the UCL complicates matters. If the Phils delays in the post-season race, Harper may decide to stop delaying the inevitable and have surgery on the facility, thus shutting it down for 2022 but likely will miss little or nothing of the 2023 season.

Injuries have always been a minor part of Harper’s career, yet they’ve been relatively constant in recent years, playing 515 of a potential 546 games from 2018-21. Through it all, Harper has continued to produce at the Cooperstown-ian level, including his MVP campaign last year. Having previously won the NL MVP with the Nationals in 2015, Harper became the fifth player in baseball history to win the MVP award on multiple teams, achieving .309/ .429/ .615 with 35 home runs and best 42 pairs in the league with the Phillies of the season. Past.

Unfortunately, that production could help the Phils run a record 82-80 — enough to snap up a streak of nine consecutive unwinning seasons, but not enough to bring the club back to the playoffs. Harper’s 13-year contract, worth $330 million makes him an easy target for cash, yet the Phillies’ lack of success on the ground isn’t Harper’s fault, given his huge numbers over three years in Philadelphia.

In the near term, Harper’s absence frees up the DH’s place in the Schwarber/Castellanos timeshare, which could create an opportunity for a major defensive refresh. Dombrowski said that Mickey Monyak They were called upon to take Harper’s place on the active roster, even though Moniak isn’t a perfect everyday fit. At the moment, the Phillies’ plan appears to consist of having one of the Castellanos or Schwarber in DH in a regular lineup, the other in an off-court spot, and Moniak’s rotation, Odubel HerreraAnd the Matt Ferling Covers two other external sites. down the farm, Scott KingeryAnd the Justin WilliamsAnd the Jorge BonifacioAnd the Dustin Peterson They are all options, although none are on the 40-man list.

Trade would be one of the ways the Phillies would address the situation, even if Harper goes for the season, the Phils won’t immediately wave a white flag over their chances of ending the final drought. However, Dombrowski could wait for Harper’s position before deciding how much to move in the future – if Harper can avoid surgery, it could increase the chances of Al Fili getting a more consistent everyday defensive player, rather than perhaps a supplemental piece.

For Velez fans looking for a positive side, the obvious group is the 2021 Braves, who were just 44-44 when Ronald Akuna Jr. He tore his ACL on July 10 last. While Atlanta seemed doomed, the Braves instead revamped their outdoor mix by trading in favor Eddie RosarioAnd the Jock PedersonAnd the Adam DuvalAnd the Jorge Soler Before the trade deadline, he ended up rolling all the way to the World Championships.

While it might be farfetched to think that such a scenario could happen to another NL East team in the second consecutive season, Dombrowski is no stranger to aggressive roster shuffling. The way the Phillies rebounded in June breathed new life into the team’s season, and it would take an immediate and sudden downturn for Philadelphia to transform into seller status before the deadline.

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