CLEARWATER, Fla. — For most of the offseason, the Phillies have acted as if their 2023 lineup will need to be judged in two distinct halves, the first of which will not have a two-time MVP hitting in the middle of it.
Now, suddenly, there’s hope that Bryce Harper could potentially return to the active roster as soon as May. In fact, there’s a reasonable enough chance of it that Phillies president Dave Dombrowski told a local radio station on Tuesday morning that the team was not planning on putting Harper on the 60-day disabled list, which would sideline him until at least May 29.
“He’s doing great,” Dombrowski said in an interview with WIP-FM (94.1). “It’s really a situation where he is doing very well. I think, in our situation, we continually say that we anticipate him before the All-Star Game, which we think will happen. ... Do I hope that he comes back before that? Sure, no question about it. We’re not going to put him on the emergency injured list, which would keep him out until May 29, because we’re going to keep our options open that he’ll come back.”
