Jeez, you’d think Bryce Harper had won a couple Most Valuable Player Awards or something.
Harper, who underwent Tommy John elbow surgery last Nov. 23, again took live batting before Friday night’s game against the Rockies at Citizens Bank, prompting the media to pepper Phillies manager Rob Thomson with questions about his progress since the last time he took BP. Which, for the record, was Thursday.
Seriously, though, Harper does have two MVP trophies with his name on them and is in many ways the face of the franchise. Also, going into play Friday, the Phils had been shut out in three of their previous six games and had scored three or fewer runs in 10 of 20 games so far this season.
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SIGN UP HERE So it’s not surprising that his every move is being carefully scrutinized, especially since his rehab appears to be far ahead of schedule.
The Phillies brought in hard-throwing right-hander Jeff Hoffman from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to pitch to Harper.
“It was 96 to 99 with a good slider,” Thomson said with a laugh. “The timing is off a little bit, but it was pretty good stuff he was facing today. We just keep progressing. He’s going to get some more at-bats. He’s going to face Ranger (Suarez on Saturday) and then we’ll get back after it on Tuesday. So by the time we leave here (after Thursday’s game against the Mariners) he’s probably going to have, I don’t know, 45 at-bats under his belt.”
At the time of the surgery, it was believed that Harper would be unable to hit until after the All-Star break and not play in right field until the end of the regular season. He’s obviously on an accelerated timetable but the next big update on how quickly he might be activated probably won’t come until he’s examined in Los Angels while the Phillies play the Dodgers May 1-3.
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“He’s a quick healer,” Thomson said. “He always has been. And he works extremely hard. So I think the combination of the two and he’s staying right on what the doctors and trainers are telling him. So I think the combination of all that kind of sped up the recovery process a little bit.”
Harper continued to take ground balls at first base and practiced “under control” dives back into the base on Friday and also took BP with the pitch clock on.
“It’s like anything else. This is kind of spring training for him as far as the pitch clock is concerned. He’s got to get used to keeping an eye on it and knowing exactly where he’s at. Everybody’s had to adjust their routine a little bit,” the manager said.