The Philadelphia Phillies officially reinstated Bryce Harper from the 10-day injured list on Tuesday and optioned Jake Cave to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room on the 26-man roster.
It wasn’t a sure thing, but Cave figured as the likeliest odd man out upon Harper’s return. Harper isn’t quite yet cleared to play first base — that next step appears to be months away — which paved the way for Kody Clemens to remain with the big league club. (Dalton Guthrie might’ve been in consideration as well, but the Phillies are severely lacking right-handed bench bats.)
Helping Clemens’ case as well: He’s homered in three of his last five starts. The lineup has produced decently well in the season’s early going, but it’s mostly lacked power, so the Phillies will take all the thump they can get.
Cave slashed .222/.286/.333 with one homer in the regular season, after a scalding hot spring training elevated him from Opening Day roster contender to somewhat regular starter.
Harper’s much-anticipated return will come a mere 160 days after undergoing Tommy John surgery, an unprecedented return to action from the procedure.
Harper will hit third in his return, with Kyle Schwarber in the leadoff spot and Trea Turner hitting second. When asked by reporters on Monday, Rob Thomson wouldn’t commit to a fixed spot in the lineup for the two-time MVP, but he did reiterate — as did Tuesday’s lineup — that he prefers to alternate between lefties and righties.
Harper won’t exactly be eased back into the swing of things: Dodgers lefty ace Julio Urías is on the mound Tuesday night.
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