Bryce

Harper

Phillies manager Rob Thomson downplayed the issue to reporters following Harper’s early exit from Wednesday’s contest against the Blue Jays after being hit in the right arm. He added that the Phillies training staff isn’t overly concerned and Harper was expected to sit out Thursday’s game regardless. It certainly sounds like Harper managed to avoid serious injury since he’s not being sent for precautionary X-rays. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now.

It appears the pitch hit Harper in the bicep. The 32-year-old was making his first spring appearance because of illness, and unfortunately it ends early with a potential injury. There should be an update on Harper’s status shortly.

No surprise here after Ohtani wrapped up his sublime Dodgers debut with a stratospheric 1.036 OPS to go along with 54 homers, 59 steals and 130 RBI over 159 games. The other interesting note here is Jackson Merrill becoming just the 16th rookie ever to take home the honor since 1980. Here are the rest of the National League winners: William Contreras (C), Bryce Harper (1B), Ketel Marte (2B), Manny Machado (3B), Francisco Lindor (SS), Jackson Merrill (OF), Jurickson Profar (OF), Teoscar Hernández (OF), Shohei Ohtani (DH) and Mookie Betts (UTIL).

Harper also drew two walks; including one that set-up the game-winning hit by Nick Castellanos. The two-run homer came in the sixth inning when the Phillies were trailing 3-0. Harper has been excellent over the first two games of the series, and he’s largely responsible for Philadelphia not falling into a 2-0 hole. Game 2 is Tuesday.

It was Harper’s 30th home run of the year to go along with 87 RBI and 84 runs scored. The 31-year-old is on track to finish with single-digit stolen bases for the first time since 2017 (ignoring the COVID-shortened 2020 season) but aside from that he’s been as good as fantasy managers had hoped for this season.

Harper hadn’t homered since August 9. He decided to make up for lost time with the multi-homer game, and he’s up to 150 homers as a member of the Phillies. The 31-year-old still has 28 homers on the year despite that month-long power drought, and his .290/.377/.537 slash has been just fine without the roundtrippers. That being said, fantasy managers sure won’t complain if Harper wants to go on a hot run of dingers to end the season.

It’s nice to Harper with some extra-base hits – this two-bagger was his seventh double since the beginning of September – but he still hasn’t hit a home run since August 9th. That’s an astounding power drought from one of the best hitters in baseball.

Harper had a .981 OPS at the end of June, but since then he’s hitting .268 with six home runs and 21 RBI in 54 games. In between, he went on the injured list with a hamstring strain. It’s difficult to rate the significance of his injury since his stay on the injured list was relatively brief. Whatever the case, Harper hasn’t been right over the last two and a half months. He’s hitting .288 with an .899 OPS and 79 RBI on the year.

Surprisingly, those four hits led to no RBI and no runs scored, but that was in part because Trea Turner was driving in everybody himself. We haven’t quite seen the power that we’re used to seeing out of Harper, with the 31-year-old hitting 26 home runs in 129 games after hitting at least 34 in three straight full seasons from 2018-2021. He also only has five steals on the year after stealing double-digit bags in five straight non-COVID seasons. Whether fantasy managers believe that carries over into next season or not will have a big impact on his 2025 ADP.

The Phillies didn’t get on the board until the ninth inning in a game where they trailed 10-0 at the end of the third. Alas, Harper smashed a 106.6 MPH single to dampen the embarrassment just a tad. While he’s hit for a high average of late, Harper is in a deep power-drought with just one home run in his last 30 games.