Harper’s absence acutely felt as Phils’ offense flops again

PHILADELPHIA » Bryce Harper missed the last game of an otherwise very successful West Coast trip Sunday due to an injection of platelet-rich plasma bent on generating the healing process for a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Whether that works or not remains to be seen, and Harper and his medical team have agreed to give the procedure at least another six weeks — with a lot of crossed fingers — to see whether, in his words, “it takes.”

If it doesn’t, surgery and a very lengthy recovery period would seem to be an alternative, but no one is even discussing that rocky road yet. The immediate result of the injection was that Harper was left with a sore arm, which served to disturb what had been a terrific month for him as a designated hitter.

At the close of business in Miami on April 16, which would be the last day Harper would play right field due to ongoing pain in the elbow, he was hitting all of .156 — up 18 points from his previous game, by the way — with one home run and a .644 OPS.

At the close of business Saturday in Los Angeles, with Harper planning a brief shutdown due to the next day’s injection, he was hitting .305 with nine home runs and a .994 OPS.

But it’s what came after that injection that remains a concern: Harper hasn’t played in any of the four games since. And the Phillies, who had scored 29 runs in the first three games in Los Angeles on that road trip, have gone 1-3 since the injection and have been shut out twice, including a 2-0 San Diego Padres win Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. Obvious storyline, anyone? “Obviously, it’s a presence that’s missed,” struggling Kyle Schwarber said afterward, “but this is also a team, right? We all want Bryce in our lineup. He’s a staple MVP; we want him in the lineup, and when he’s not, we want to be able to pick that up and go from there. We have to do a better job of picking him up when he’s not in the lineup.”

To that end, the Phillies are starting to learn — and aren’t surprised to learn — what life without Harper means for their offense. That’s what makes the prospects of a long-term absence so silently frightening.

Ah, but who’s looking that far down the road yet?

If Harper is, he isn’t showing it. Nor has he revealed his feelings about his situation since Tuesday, the day before he learned it would at least be a couple of more weeks until he can expect to play in the outfield … which Joe Girardi translated Wednesday as meaning the end of July … at the very earliest.

He might have had his fingers crossed then, too.

But as for Harper’s plate presence, Girardi isn’t speculating on when that could resume. It was originally anticipated he might miss only two games due to soreness at the injection site. But it’s been four already and Harper is questionable for Friday night’s home game against that Dodgers club the Phillies very nearly swept on the road.

Until Harper missed his first game there.

“It’s a different lineup without him in the lineup, that’s for sure,” Girardi said of Harper. “You take an MVP out of a lineup, that lineup is going to change.”