Harper keeping Phillies afloat
PHILADELPHIA » With an MVP-caliber season tilting toward legendary, Bryce Harper has kept the Phillies competitive in a strange season of polar extremes. Since such offensive outbursts seldom occur, they should be motivated not to waste one.
“I don’t think you need extra motivation,” Joe Girardi said. “I don’t ever think about it like, ‘We don’t want to waste someone’s season.’ Because we’re all involved in this, right? And the game is always, to me, about our team.
“But he’s a big reason why we’ve hung around, just because of the season that he’s had and the last two and a half months, whatever he’s done.”
To chants of “MVP,” Harper provided a home run and two doubles, walked twice, drove in four runs and scored three times Thursday to help the Phils draw within three games of the firstplace Braves in the NL East with an unlikely 17-8 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
He has extended a hitting streak to 12, has hit safely in 21 of his last 22 games and has reached base safely more than once in 71 games while improving his batting average to .314 and his slugging percentage to .627.
“It’s been incredible,” Girardi said, “to watch.”
With Girardi’s “bullpen game” plan proving to be a quick disaster and the Phillies trailing, 7-0, in the fourth, Harper laced a leadoff double off the top of the leftfield wall, igniting a seven-run inning. He doubled again in a threerun sixth, then clubbed his 33rd homer to deep right in the seventh.
Harper is almost certain to join Fernando Tatis Jr. and Max Muncy, who is battling a bruised knee, somewhere in the MVP trifecta, with Freddie Freeman looming.
“It’s not the MVP of the playoffs, it’s the MVP of the season,” Girardi said. “I think he’s earned
it.”
A playoff spot would help. “It feels good,” said Harper of the chants. “But we’ve got a long way to go.
“This club has resilience. We had to win that game going into New York and we were able to do that.”
••• Girardi’s choice for an opener was veteran Cam Bedrosian, a career reliever who made seven starts for the 2019 Angels.
“Obviously, he’s pitched in late-inning situations a lot in his career,” Girardi said. “So he’s facing the heart of the order.”
Girardi was hoping a low pitch count would allow Bedrosian to work two innings, but the right-hander was gone after 1.1 innings, striking out two and not allowing a hit or a run on 28 pitches.
That began a parade of pitching incompetence, with Matt Moore, J.D. Hammer and Ramon Rosso combining to allow seven runs in 2.2 innings.
Bailey Falter, Hector Neris and Adonis Medina eventually provided stability and the Phils ran a winning streak to two.
• • • On schedule following an injection Sunday to reduce inflammation in his right shoulder, J.T. Realmuto was the starting catcher.
The Phillies were off Monday, he rested Tuesday and started at first Wednesday, hitting a go-ahead, eighth-inning home run.
According to Girardi,
Realmuto was feeling “better,” with the plan being to catch him more often than not for the rest of the season.
“I mean, he was catching fairly often before,” Girardi said. “So to me, it’s just you’re trying to get rid of it bothering him at all.”
Realmuto was hit by a Kyle Hendricks pitch in the left elbow, causing some swelling and spreading concern about his availability for Friday night against the Mets at Citi Field. He did supply a two-run single in the seven-run fourth and was replaced by Andrew Knapp when the Phillies took a seven-run lead into the eighth. • ••
One way or another, apparently, Vince Velasquez was bound to have an impact on the Phillies’ playoff chances.
That was to happen Friday night in St. Louis, where Velasquez will start for San Diego. Both the Cardinals and Padres are ahead of the Phillies in the NL wild-card race. Ironic?
“I didn’t really think of it that way,” Girardi said. “I’m happy for him that he’s getting an opportunity to pitch again. But I really didn’t think about that.”
That said, he can choose not to think much about the Padres’ choice for a Sunday starter: Jake Arrieta.
Both Arrieta and Velasquez were in the Phillies rotation last season. Arrieta landed with the Padres after failing earlier in the season for the Cubs.
The Phillies formally released Velasquez, who was 3-6 with a 5.95 ERA Tuesday.