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.
It hasn’t been a lot of swings — Harper took 20 off the tee on Monday, 20 swings on Tuesday and 20 swings on Wednesday, but feels good.
Harper said if he starts to feel pain in his thumb, he won’t hit. But as long as he feels fine, he’ll keep swinging. The removal of the pins in Harper’s left thumb also enabled him to start a throwing program. Prior to his injury on June 26, Harper had been the everyday DH after suffering a small tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow. Because Harper bats left, he was able to continue hitting.
But once he was hit by Snell’s pitch, Harper was unable to contribute on ether side of the field.
Harper said he’s playing “light catch,” but said hitting is his main focus.
“Just super light,” Harper said of throwing. “Started on a knee about a week ago, maybe five feet, and progressed from there. We’re back out to about 40 feet right now, standing up, just very light. Like I said, we’ll progress from there. That’s kind of on the back burner for me right now. I just want to get back in the lineup, get my swing going.”
The last time Harper tested his arm it didn’t feel right. So far, he feels no pain while throwing, but said he’ll get a better sense of where he’s at as he starts to increase his workload.
“I don’t feel it at all, pain wise,” he said. “But like I said, it’s such a lob toss, it’s kind of like I’m throwing wiffle balls to my kid, right. So I mean, it’s very easy. But not having pain is a big thing for me. You guys will know more once I scoot back and start letting it throw a little bit more. But like I said, it’s kind of on the back burner for me.
“I want to get back in the lineup. I want to get back in there to start hitting, so I’m not really quick to get back on a throwing (program) as quickly as possible, because I really want to it to heal so I don’t have to do anything in the offseason, like go under the knife or anything like that.”
Harper also had praise president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski for his trade deadline acquisitions of center fielder Brandon Marsh and starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard from the Angels and reliever David Robertson from the Cubs.
“I thought it was great,” Harper said. “I think people don’t like the way Dave (Dombrowski) works because he works under the radar a little bit, he’s always been that way and I kind of like that, because nobody kind of knows what we’re going to do. So being able to see what we did do, he added what we needed. He got the starting pitcher that we needed, the center fielder that we needed, and a bullpen guy.
Marsh ‘super stoked’ to join Phillies
Marsh was in the Phillies clubhouse on Thursday afternoon, introducing himself to new teammates and preparing for his Phillies debut. Interim manager Rob Thomson penciled Marsh into the nine-hole against the Nationals.
“It’s very very exciting, it’s a blessing to be here, super excited and I met the guys and staff today,” he said. “It’s been nothing short of what I expected. So it’s been awesome.”
Marsh, who was acquired in a trade with the Angels for Double-A catching prospect Logan O’Hoppe, said he was a little shocked when he heard news of the deal, but is ready to join a pennant race.
“I wasn’t expecting it too, too much,” he said. “Because every year I feel like guys are thrown into trade talks. So finally went through with one this year. And I’m super stoked and super excited to get things rolling here in Philly.”
Extra bases
Second baseman Jean Segura, who was placed on the injured list on June 1 with a fracture of his right index finger, was reinstated from the 60-day injured list on Thursday and is in the lineup. … Pitcher Kyle Gibson was activated from the bereavement list.
