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During tonight’s Phillies/Rangers matchup on ESPN, Bryce Harper and Phillies manager Rob Thomson shared some positive updates about Harper’s recovery from Tommy John surgery in November. (Hat tip to Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.) Thomson said Harper is likely to hit on the field at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, prior to the Phils’ home opener against the Reds. Harper has already been doing his usual slate of batting cage work for roughly 10 days.
No update was given on Harper’s timeline, as the former MVP said he is “just trying to get my rehab going as best as possible,” and “just trying to take it each day, make sure I hit every checkpoint.”
“[I’ve] still got a minute to go. Just trying to be smart about it, understanding my good days are going to be good and some days I’ll just be sore and it’ll be a little tougher. But I feel good right now, just got to keep that going and keep doing the same stuff.”
Once Harper does his on-field work, Thomson laid out the gameplan of live batting practice and then progressing to minor league rehab games. While there’s certainly a lot to like about Harper’s progress, these next steps won’t be completed quickly, particularly since Harper both has to recover physically and fully ramp up for the season after missing all of Spring Training. The Phillies initially suggested that Harper would be back by roughly the All-Star break in a DH capacity, and he might return to right field later in the season if all was well with his throwing arm.
However, tonight’s update might be the latest hint that Harper could be activated from the injured list before that July target — for instance, the Phils only placed him on the 10-day version of the IL prior to the season, not the 60-day IL that would normally come with a longer-term injury. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski did suggest that a 60-day placement (which would be backdated to Harper’s initial placement on the 10-day IL on March 30) might still occur if Philadelphia needs to create a 40-man roster spot, but it would seem like the Phillies didn’t want to entirely rule out Harper’s return within the first 60 days of the regular season.
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