A healthy Harper could help mend a lot of Phils’ ills

The move was aggressive and popular, the moment right, the commitment meaningful, the sign that the Phillies were serious necessary.

Stuck for too long waiting for baseball success to occur organically, and ever unable to make the draft work to revive the farm system, the Phillies would spend $330,000,000 on a Hall of Famebound superstar of the highest degree, a 26-year-old power hitter and clubhouse leader who was everything a baseball player should be. Except for one.

He was Bryce Harper, and he could hit, throw, run, field and pick out just the right T-shirt for any press availability that proved he understood the fans, the market and the situation. If need be, he’d wear a Phillie Phanatic headband, run into an outfield wall, take the extra base on a single and bump his heart with his fist as a salute to the fans in right field. And then he’d get ready for the second inning.

If ever there were a reason to marry a player to a fan base, and a situation to a moment, and an investment to a reward, Bryce Harper was that reason

for the Phillies.

There was that one issue, though.

There was that unmentionable concern.

There was the reality that for all that he gave the game, the game never responded with giving him an overstock of durability.

In 2017, two years after his only MVP season, he injured his knee and was limited to 111 games.

In 2014, a thumb injury required surgery, helping explain why he only played in 100 games.

It was a 118-game 2013 season for Harper, in part because he ran into a wall and left blood all over the field.

Last year, his back was too sore to allow him to play regularly in right field. It was, though, a season with a universal DH, a reasonable and convenient option.

And then, there has been this season, with the Phillies having played 75 games before a makeup affair Monday evening in Cincinnati. Harper had played 55. There were the occasional days of rest against certain pitchers in certain situations. Cal Ripken Jr.’s record is not Harper’s obsession. But he was also compromised by seven different injuries since spring training.

“Seven?” Joe Girardi said before the game. “Name them all.”

OK will do.

In order of reported occurrence, there would be injuries to Harper’s lower back, face, wrist, shoulder, forearm, back and Sunday at Citi Field, calf. OK, call it six-and-a-half if “lower back” and “back” run as an entry.