The Philadelphia Phillies have cooled off considerably after a fantastic first half, and a major factor is Bryce Harper’s power outage.
Since returning from a hamstring injury after the All-Star break, the two-time MVP has hit .233/.313/.411 with six homers in 42 games. He entered Friday without a homer since Aug. 9 and a barrel rate that dropped from 15.1% in June to 2.7% in August, per Baseball Savant.
That’s concerning if you’re a team betting on Harper to be an MVP-level hitter in the playoffs. There’s apparently a reason for that, as Harper revealed to MLB.com on Friday.
After wearing a protective black sleeve on his arm this week, Harper admitted to having trouble with his wrist and elbow:
He said he’s had wrist pain since May. The elbow is more recent. Harper said he can’t remember a specific action or moment that irritated the wrist, only that it “just got worse. I’ve had to fight through it.” But with the postseason just a month away, he said he hopes it won’t be an issue come October.
“I don’t want to make excuses for what I’m doing,” Harper said. “You know what I mean? I just have to get through it. Hopefully it gets better, not worse. [The wrist’s] finally to the point where I feel like it’s reaching a turning point. My elbow is just like — there.”
Harper specifically said the problem is not with his right elbow ligament, which he underwent Tommy John surgery on after the 2022 World Series.
With a month left in the regular season, the Phillies can only hope that Harper’s arm improves as he says it will. The team entered Friday with a six-game lead over the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East and one game behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the NL. There’s plenty to discover in September.
