Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper told reporters ahead of Friday’s game against the Atlanta Braves (GameTracker) that he’s been dealing with both wrist and elbow irritation. Harper told MLB’s Todd Zolecki that he doesn’t know what caused his wrist issue, but that it’s bothered him dating back to May has “just generally got worse.” At the same time, he expressed hope that his wrist in particular was improving.
“I don’t want to make excuses for what I do,” Harper said. “You know what I’m saying? I’ve just got to get through it. Hopefully, it gets better rather than getting worse. [The wrist’s] finally getting to the point where I feel like it’s turning a corner. My elbow is just like — there.”
Harper, 31, entered Friday having hit .278/.369/.520 (146 OPS+) with 26 home runs and 76 runs batted in. His contributions have been worth an estimated 3.7 Wins Above Replacement, according to Baseball Reference’s calculations. Nevertheless, Harper has seen his power output taper off in a notable way over the last two months.
Whereas Harper entered July having launched 20 home runs on the year, he’s since homered just six times. July served as the single worst full month of Harper’s career, as judged by OPS, and while he’s rebounded to an extent in August, he’s posted a .233/.311/.411 slash line over his last 42 games. The Phillies are 20-22 in those contests.
It’s unclear if and/or how much Harper’s wrist and elbow injuries are contributing to his power outage. For his part, he seemed to downplay their effects, saying: “Sometimes you’ve got to play through crap. You know? All good.”
The Phillies will continue their pivotal series against the Braves on Friday night. They took the first game of the four-game set on Thursday, extending their National League East lead to six games.
