Bryce Harper starting at first base Friday against Guardians

Bryce Harper is adding another improbable chapter to the story of his unprecedented recovery.

The Phillies’ slugger is starting at first base on Friday against the Guardians. It will be his first career start at the position and just his third MLB appearance there overall — though neither of the first two lasted more than a third of an inning.

His return to the field carries potentially huge benefits for the Phillies. It’ll allow Kyle Schwarber — a career subpar defender who’s especially struggled this year, ranking last in baseball with -18 defensive runs saved — to slot in at DH on a regular basis. (That’s how the Phillies will line up on Friday.) Harper won’t play in the field every day — and Schwarber won’t DH every day — but that’ll be the most frequent configuration going forward.

The left field vacancy could mean more playing time for the red-hot Jake Cave, who’s batting ninth and playing left field on Friday. (Cave was called up from Triple-A when the Phillies optioned Darick Hall and Drew Ellis after Thursday’s game.) Johan Rojas could also see his name in the starting lineup from time to time. Phillies Nation‘s Destiny Lugardo covered the ripple effects of Harper at first base in greater detail on Sunday, when the Phillies were planning on starting Harper at first against the Brewers.

Harper has bounced around positions in his professional career, but just in the outfield, after moving off of catcher once he was drafted in 2010. He’s been taking grounders at first base for over three months — shortly after he came up with the idea in April — but he’s not likely to grade out as a Gold Glover at the position. Still, so long as he’s serviceable, it would be a significant boost to the Phillies down the stretch.

His serviceability (or lack thereof) will also have significant ramifications on how the Phillies approach the Aug. 1 trade deadline. If Harper can hold down the position, there isn’t quite the glaring need at first base that the Phillies have faced ever since Rhys Hoskins tore his ACL in March. If he can’t — for performance reasons, or if his throwing arm simply isn’t ready — Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies’ front office will have to keep their options open.

The Phillies are running up against the clock, though. Thomson had floated the possibility of Harper playing first base against the San Diego Padres the first series out of the break. That didn’t happen. Saturday’s doubleheader and Sunday’s rain prevented Harper from getting his pregame work in over the weekend, which ultimately took the midweek Brewers series out of the picture.

Now, just 11 days remain until the deadline. There’s not a ton of time to hand down a ruling.

Still, at the very least, it’s a positive sign for Harper in his road toward an eventual full recovery. And if the new first baseman has staying power, it could open a whole lot of doors and provide some much-needed flexibility for a Phillies team that finds itself in the thick of the postseason chase.

It’s worth reflecting back on Harper’s original estimated timetable just to return to the Phillies’ lineup at all. When he underwent Tommy John surgery a few days before Thanksgiving, sometime around the All-Star break was the rough approximation — exclusively as a designated hitter; any playing time in the field seemed rather unlikely in 2023.

‘I’m not waiting that long’: Bryce Harper will return on Tuesday, something only he ever imagined

Instead, Harper worked his way back into the lineup in May, ahead of schedule to a shocking degree. And now, he’ll make his return to the field before the end of July, with more than two months left in the regular season as the Phillies try to hunt down a postseason berth.

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