Phillies News & Rumors 5/16: Thomson optimistic Harper won’t face suspension; no decision on Falter’s next start

SAN FRANCISCO — The benches-clearing incident between the Phillies and Rockies carried long, short and immediate-term risk for the superstar at the center of the chaos: Bryce Harper.

The long-term risk was Harper’s elbow. Crisis was averted. The elbow is fine.

The immediate-term risk was Harper’s status in the game itself. That matter was adjudicated rather swiftly. He was tossed.

The short-term risk is a potential suspension, and the jury may still be out on that one. Harper was in the lineup for Monday’s series opener against San Francisco, a Phillies loss, and manager Rob Thomson told reporters before the game he’s confident he won’t need to write a lineup card without his superstar as a result of the fracas.

“Boys will be boys,” Thomson said. “No punches were thrown. I hope everything comes out clean, nobody gets suspended for it.”

Thomson said he hadn’t talked to anyone (presumably referring to MLB officials) about a potential suspension, and he has no idea when that announcement would come.

It wouldn’t be Harper’s first career suspension in the Majors. He was suspended for three games — initially four, before an appeal reduced it — for charging the mound at Hunter Strickland while with the Washington Nationals in 2017. Obviously, any suspension resulting from the Colorado incident would figure to be shorter than that one, given the nature of the respective conflicts.

Bailey Falter’s status for next start up in the air

Thomson said after Monday night’s loss that “we haven’t talked about anything yet” regarding whether Bailey Falter would make his next scheduled start, according to MLB.com‘s Todd Zolecki. Falter struggled mightily against the Giants, allowing six unearned runs on six hits in the bottom of the second inning. His ERA, despite not including those runs, is 5.13.

Questions about Falter’s status in the rotation gained traction after a four-run, 4 1/3-inning outing in Houston his previous start. Those questions only intensified with Monday’s clunker.

Must-Read (Or Watch) Phillies Content

• It’s easy to say Falter shouldn’t make his next start. It’s harder to say who should. Here’s a thread from Phillies Nation‘s Destiny Lugardo explaining why that is.
• Perhaps the Phillies need to make a change at No. 5 for the sake of making a change, as our Tim Kelly argued after Monday’s game.
• It didn’t go the smoothest, but Connor Brogdon started at Oracle Park on Monday in what he told Phillies Nation‘s Nathan Ackerman (pregame) would be the “second top moment in my baseball career.” Maybe it wasn’t quite that from a statistical standpoint, but the sentiment — and the rest of the linked feature, on Brogdon’s quiet but solid season thus far — stands.
• Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer gave a quarter-season assessment of the 2023 Phillies before Monday’s game.

Former Phillie Watch

• Héctor Neris on Monday earned his second save of the season in as many opportunities, to go along with six of six holds and a 1.47 ERA. Héctor the Protector, indeed.
• Charlie Morton struck out 10 for the Braves in a 12-0 thrashing of the Rangers. His ERA is 2.85. Yes, he was once a Phillie.
• Noah Syndergaard allowed two runs in four innings for the Dodgers on Monday, dropping his ERA below … 6.00.
• The Phillies missed Connor Seabold by one day in Colorado. He allowed six runs (four earned) in 4 1/3 innings on Monday. He sports a 5.14 ERA in Year 1 with the Rockies. Seabold and Nick Pivetta for Heath Hembree and Brandon Workman is looking like quite the lose-lose trade.

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