The Philadelphia Phillies entered their Thursday doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves with the best record in the National League at 35-19 and trailing the Detroit Tigers for the best record in baseball by just 0.5 games.
Manager Rob Thomson’s club got a huge scare in the bottom of the first inning of Tuesday’s game against Atlanta, however, when eight-time All-Star Bryce Harper was forced to leave the contest after being hit by a pitch on the left elbow.
The Braves and Phillies were rained out on Wednesday and on Thursday morning, Thomson gave an update on Harper’s injury and availability moving forward.
Harper ‘Doing Better,’ Could Play Game 2 of Thursday’s Doubleheader
The superstar first baseman wasn’t in the team’s starting lineup for Game 1 and Philadelphia’s fourth-year leader told reporters that Harper would likely be unavailable for the tilt. Thomson did add though, that the 32-year-old could appear in the second half of the double-dip.
“Bryce Harper is feeling better, Rob Thomson said, and could play Game 2 tonight. Swelling has gone down some. Probably not available to PH in Game 1,” Matt Gelb of The Athletic posted on Bluesky.
After being accidentally eulogized by USA Today’s Bob Nightengale ahead of the season, the two-time NL MVP has gotten off to a relatively slow start — given his lofty standards — through the first third of the 2025 campaign.
Harper has hit eight home runs and collected 33 RBI (both of which rank second on the team to designated hitter Kyle Schwarber), but he’s also posted just a .267 batting average and .823 OPS. The batting average would be his lowest mark since 2019, while his OPS is on pace to be his worst since 2016.
Harper Has a Long History of Injury Scares Following HBPs
The former NL Rookie of the Year spent the bulk of his first 10 MLB seasons from 2012-2021 playing right field, before injuring his right elbow in 2022 and shifting to designated hitter, and then first base. Harper underwent Tommy John surgery following the 2022 World Series but made a quicker than anticipated recovery and returned to the diamond in May 2023.
As noted by MLB.com’s Paul Casella, this is far from the first time that the former No. 1 overall draft pick has received a serious scare after being hit by a pitch.
Among the other times that Harper was drilled and injured since joining the Phillies in 2019 include in 2021 when he missed multiple weeks after being struck in the face and in 2022 when he was sidelined two months after being hit on the left thumb. He was also hit on the left elbow last September but played the next day and was knocked on the right arm in February during Spring Training but ended up being fine.
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