PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper broke his left thumb in the fourth inning of a June 25 game in San Diego.
One inning later, J.T. Realmuto homered.
There wasn’t anything especially notable about it at the time, except that it was only Realmuto’s second home run in a 25-game span. Now, though, it’s clear that it marked the start of something — a six-week surge in which the star catcher has rediscovered his swing, reemerged as a dangerous middle-of-the-order hitter, and carried the hottest team in baseball to a hard-to-believe 23-13 record sans Harper.
