The Philadelphia Phillies haven't been the same team since the All-Star break. And neither has their franchise player.
After a 62-34 first half, the best record in Major League Baseball, the Phillies are limping through August. They're 17-22 overall since the break, allowing the Atlanta Braves to retain an outside chance of repeating as National League East champions.
After a 7-2 loss on Friday night to the Braves, the Phillies retained a five-game lead over Atlanta in the division. But the more concerning development is that their All-Star first baseman has continued fielding questions about his lingering injury concerns.
Bryce Harper had himself a 3-for-4 night on Friday, which was his first three-hit game since Aug. 8. His power has noticeably been zapped in the second half as well, with just five home runs and a .724 OPS in 38 games since the break.
Harper is reportedly dealing with both a wrist and elbow injury. The former has been nagging him since May, while he says the elbow injury is a more recent development.
"It's part of the game," Harper said Friday night, per the Associated Press. "It's part of the process of going through a season. Just got to stay the course and understand that I rely heavy on my body."
Strangely enough, the two injuries hampering Harper now have nothing to do with the 10-day injured list stint he had at the end of June. That was a hamstring strain, suffered legging out a ground ball on the final play of a loss against the Miami Marlins.
While there are plenty of other capable hitters on this Phillies team, they typically go as Harper goes. He has been instrumental to their deep postseason runs the last two years, producing memorable clutch moments and an OPS well over 1.000.
As much as locking up a first-round bye matters to the Phillies' championship hopes, they may need to find a way to get Harper some days off down the stretch. Because if they can't count on Harper to be his most productive self, their ultimate goal of becomes exponentially harder.
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