Categories: News

Report: Bryce Harper to have follow-up visit with surgeon next week

Bryce Harper is in his fourth season with the Phillies. (Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)

Bryce Harper will have a follow-up next week with the surgeon that inserted three pins into his fractured left thumb on June 29, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

Pedro Beredjiklian — the chief of hand surgery at Rothman Orthopedic Institute — performed the surgery after the reigning National League MVP had his left thumb broken after being hit by a pitch by San Diego Padres’ starter Blake Snell.

Heyman says that the hope of the appointment is that the pins will be able to be removed. It’s not immediately clear whether the pins could be removed that day, or if all is going well that will lead to the scheduling of a day to take them out. Shortly after his surgery, Harper said that the pins would be in for four weeks.

Whenever Harper does indeed have the pins removed from his left thumb, not only will he be able to progress as a hitter again, but the Phillies will be able to gauge whether the PRP injection that he received in his right elbow in Los Angeles on May 15 in Los Angeles was successful.

Harper said after his thumb surgery that he would give his right elbow a few more weeks until he could fit a glove on his left hand and attempt to play catch. The hope is that the PRP injection helped to heal the small tear in his right UCL, and he can avoid surgery on it, be it Tommy John or another procedure.

Nick Castellanos has -12 defensive runs saved and -7 outs above average in right field this season, so the Phillies would be a better team if Harper can return to the outfield at some point in 2022, allowing Castellanos to be the primary DH.

Regardless of whether Harper is able to return to the field or not in 2022, the Phillies would obviously love to have the now seven-time All-Star’s bat back in their lineup. Prior to fracturing his thumb, Harper had been putting together one of the finest seasons of his tremendous career, slashing .318/.385/.599 with 15 home runs and 48 RBIs in 64 games.

Following the surgery on his thumb, the 29-year-old said that he planned to return at some point in 2022, but declined to offer a specific timetable.

“I don’t wanna hope or think about anything, I just wanna go day by day and be back when I can, whenever I feel healthy. … If we’re in it, if we’re out of it, I’m going to come back and play no matter what, just so I know I can go out there and play the game. I don’t want that to be my last day playing this year, that game in San Diego. So no matter what the outcome is, I’m gonna come back and I’ll be playing.”

At 49-43, it increasingly looks like Harper could be returning to a lineup in position to make the postseason. Adding his bat back at the No. 3 spot might be just what the Phillies need to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011.