Bryce Harper is learning how to play first base

Dave Uram of KYW NewsRadio asked an inquisitive question about Bryce Harper to Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson Tuesday afternoon in the home dugout at Citizens Bank Park.

“You might have answered this already earlier this season, but with him taking ground balls around that first base area, what is the thought behind that?”

Thomson, evidently not ready to reveal what the Phillies had cooking, brushed it off.

“It’s just his glove action right now,” Thomson said. “We’ll tackle the other stuff later, but he’s just working on his glove work. You know, you’ll see [Nick] Castellanos out there in the infield every once in a while and [Brandon] Marsh and all those guys.”

Castellanos and Marsh may just be taking balls in the infield because they believe that helps them prepare to effectively play the outfield. Or maybe they’re just having fun. But there’s nothing to read into with those two.

Apparently there is with Harper.

Matt Gelb of The Athletic spoke on the record with both Harper and Thomson, with the pair revealing that the rehabbing slugger is indeed working at first base with the thought of potentially playing there later in the 2023 season.

“If I can give them whatever they want from first base, or right field, or whatever it is — not just this year, but going forward — it gives us an opportunity,” Harper said to Gelb. “Whatever it is. Whatever they want. It gives them the option to do that.”

Should Harper prove capable of playing proficiently at first base, it would be a shot in the arm for the Phillies.

In the short-term of 2023, if Harper isn’t entrenched at DH as he was for the majority of 2022, it allows the Phillies to get Nick Castellanos, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto off their feet occasionally without losing their bats in the lineup.

In the long-term of 2023, if Rhys Hoskins is able to come back from his torn left ACL in October, as he hopes to do, it would keep the door open for his return if he’s only able to hit but not play the field.

In the even longer term, it’s good to know if Harper can play elsewhere on the field. While his defensive metrics have fluctuated throughout the course of his career, he’s almost certainly a better option in either corner outfield spot than Castellanos or Schwarber when he’s healthy. But Harper is under contract through the 2031 season. It’s possible, if not likely, that the two-time NL MVP will reach a point where he’s not an everyday right fielder anymore. If he can play first even part time — as opposed to just becoming a full-time DH — that would make it easier for the Phillies to continue to put a playoff-caliber roster around him.

But back to 2023 — the vibes continue to be incredible on Harper’s recovery from Tommy John surgery. Perhaps the reason that Uram’s question to Thomson went relatively unnoticed Wednesday was that the manager also revealed that he believes Harper is ready to hit in a game already. Whenever it is that Harper is cleared to slide and ultimately returns to the Phillies, it’s going to be as a DH first. But again, it would be best for the Phillies if Harper isn’t just cemented as a DH for the remainder of 2023.

Since Harper had his surgery on Nov. 23, there have been signals that he and the team are hopeful that he can play in right field late in 2023. But Thomson told Phillies Nation prior to last week’s home opener that there isn’t yet a plan for how the Phillies will ramp the seven-time All-Star back up as a thrower.

“Not at this point,” Thomson said. “First things first, we gotta get him to slide and get him into games [as a hitter] and then figure the other part out.”

Make no mistake, you have to be able to throw to play first base. But, would there be less stress on Harper’s surgically repaired elbow if he was making occasional throws from first base as opposed to trying to gun runners out at the plate from right field? Certainly. So perhaps there’s an argument to having Harper play first base if he’s able to return to the field in 2023, even if the expectation is for him to be the Opening Day right fielder in 2024.

If Harper’s proves capable of playing first base, it would also make president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski’s job easier. Even with Darick Hall likely to return from his thumb surgery at some point this summer, there was a real thought from most who follow the team that with the loss of Hoskins, a right-handed hitting first base option was going to be the biggest team need prior to the Aug. 1 trade deadline. Perhaps, though, the Phillies could just target a right-handed hitter capable of playing some combination of a corner outfield spot, first base and DH at the trade deadline if Harper can also play at first. Wil Myers of the Cincinnati Reds is a name that comes to mind.

And if Harper can play first base in October, it keeps the dream alive of Hoskins returning to the lineup as a DH for a World Series run, however unlikely such a scenario may be.

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