PHILADELPHIA — In his first week of taking swings and throwing since getting three pins removed from his left thumb, Bryce Harper said he has felt pain-free. His priority is to get his swing going so he can get back in the Phillies lineup and hopes to return by “September-ish,” but is reluctant to put a firm timeline.
“It’s been good,” Harper said on Thursday. “Being able to get the pins out kind of opened things up for me to do what I needed to to get through the week and then get into this next week. To prepare me to come back. So, being able to throw the baseball again, catch the baseball again, my workout’s changed a little bit just so I can grip a little bit more, and things like that.”
The 2021 MVP has been sidelined since June 26 when he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left thumb fracture after getting hit on the hand by a fastball thrown by the Padres’ Blake Snell. He had three pins inserted in his thumb on July 5 and had them removed on Monday. Harper was back in the batting cage taking swings that same day.
