Harper thumb surgery today
Phillies slugger Bryce Harper will have surgery today to repair his broken left thumb and the team hopes the 2021 NL MVP can play again this season.
Manager Rob Thomson did not offer a timetable for Harper’s return.
“It’s tough, but it’s probably the best thing for him. So whatever’s best for him is best for me,” Thomson said Tuesday. “If he’s able to come back, which we plan on, then that’s good under the circumstances.”
Harper’s thumb was broken when he was hit by a 97 mph pitch from Padres left-hander Blake Snell on Saturday night.
The 29-year-old Harper is hitting .318 with 15 home runs, 48 RBI and a .985 OPS, and has helped the Phillies recently surge back into playoff contention.
BAKER: BROWNS DOOR STILL OPEN, BUT...
Baker Mayfield said the Browns have work ahead if they want him to help them through their situation with Deshaun Watson.
Mayfield, speaking at his football camp near the University of Oklahoma’s campus on Tuesday, didn’t entirely close the door on stepping in if needed.
“No, I think for that to happen, there would have to be some reaching out,” Mayfield said. “But we’re ready to move on, I think, on both sides.”
The Browns made a major trade for Watson in March and then signed him to a record-setting $230 million contract.
Now, Watson faces a possible suspension from the league stemming from accusations of sexual misconduct by two
dozen massage therapists in Texas.
Former U.S. District Judge Sue Robinson, who was jointly appointed by the NFL and the NFL Players’ Association, will hold a hearing to determine whether Watson violated the NFL’s personal conduct policy and whether to impose discipline.
Mayfield said he expected to be traded before the draft, but he’s still on the team roughly a month before the opening of training camps.
CTE HITS MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Researchers have diagnosed chronic traumatic encephalopathy in a Major League Soccer player for the first time, saying Tuesday that former Sporting Kansas City defender Scott Vermillion suffered from the degenerative brain disease.
The Boston University CTE Center said Vermillion, who died of an accidental drug overdose in December 2020 at the age of 44, had CTE. Although it is not possible to connect any individual case to a cause, the disease has been linked to repeated blows to the head.
CTE has been found in more than 100 former NFL players as well as semi-pro and high school soccer players. Vermillion is the first from MLS.
“Mr. Vermillion has shown us that soccer players are at risk for CTE,” said Dr. Ann McKee, director of the BU CTE Center. “We need to make every effort to identify players who are suffering and provide them compassionate care and appropriate medical support.”
Vermillion began playing soccer at the age of 5 and continued for 22 years, culminating in four MLS seasons for D.C. United, the Colorado Rapids and Sporting KC. He also played for the United States at the 1993 Under-17 World Championship and made some appearances for the Under-20 team in 1996.
After retiring in 2001 with an ankle injury, his family said, he became depressed and had problems with impulse control and aggression. Eventually, he suffered from memory loss and developed a substance abuse problem.