Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Harper’s knee, batter’s box are his sore spots
PHILADELPHIA >> The Phillies were fortunate to lose just a game, and not a superstar in a 6-1 decision to the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday night.
Bryce Harper slid into the right field bleachers to run down a foul fly ball, the superstar jamming his left knee while careening into the wall with enough force to puncture the padding with his cleats.
“It’s definitely sore,” Harper said. “I’ll see how it is tomorrow.”
Harper gathered in a fading popup by Keston Hura in the top of the sixth inning. That brought manager Gabe Kapler and the medical staff to the mound, the Phillies trailing 5-0.
“He wanted me to be smart, of course, and not push it if it was painful or anything like that,” Harper said. “I think there was so much adrenaline right there in the situation that I didn’t really feel it. I felt fine in the moment and then in the dugout, I felt fine as well. Thought I’d play through it.”
Harper barely had walked off the stiffness when he made almost the exact same sliding play, this time to haul in Lorenzo Cain’s foul pop to end the frame. A crowd of 31,533 at Citizens Bank Park gave him a standing ovation for that, and again when he led off the bottom of the inning.
“It was him banging his knee, not twisting it or anything like that,” Kapler said. “I asked Bryce and he said, ‘I’m totally fine.’ I said, ‘You promise?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m good to go.’ And then he proved it. He’s a fighter. He’s everything you want in a teammate. He’s a special guy.”
Harper walked his first two trips to the plate. But he struck out his next two times up, and that’s been an issue.
Starter Brandon Woodruff caught him swinging in the sixth inning, the 55th punchout this season for Harper. And in the eighth inning Harper half-swung at a Corbin Burns slider with a runner on first and one out.
That’s 56 strikeouts in 41 games for Harper, putting him on pace for 221, dangerously close to the alltime mark of 223 established by Mark Reynolds of the Diamondbacks in 2009.
“I had two good at-bats, I thought, on the first two, and then he challenged me 2-0, 2-1 and 2-2, 96 (mph), 96 and 98,” Harper said. “I just dug myself a hole. I’ve just got to keep going.
“I’ve got to be better. Flat out, I’ve got to be better and hopefully good things will happen.”
While the Phillies (24-17) cross their fingers that Harper’s knee won’t be the worse for wear Wednesday, the good news is they still own a 3½ game lead over the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets in the NL East.
That doesn’t change his personal outlook, though.
“I’ll see how what I feel like tomorrow,” Harper said. “I like to play, I like to be out there in the lineup for my guys sliding into a wall and making a play like that and jamming my knee up. I’ll see how I feel tomorrow. If I think I need a day then I’ll talk to (Kapler).”
Harper has played in all 41 games. He’s not interested in taking a personal day.
“I think baseball is going out there each day and not trying to get out of it or anything like that,” Harper said. “I’m not sure a day off is going to work for me mentally or physically. I’ve just got to keep going, keep grinding and try to get through it.”
Kapler didn’t sound like he would seize the moment to take the slugger out of the lineup “Unless I have a good reason, where I think this is going to really serve him well, I’m not going to do it.”