Bryce Harper has a tear in his UCL and won’t shed for four weeks

Elbow problem that landed Bryce Harper DH assignments since mid-April have been diagnosed with a “small tear” in their UCL reports Alex Covey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. While the ruling NL MVP remains able to swing the bat, he will undergo a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection on Sunday that will keep him out of the Phillies lineup on Sunday, and possibly early next week.

The team had already contacted the problem Mild elbow sprain, but a visit to Dr. Neil Al-Atrash confirmed a test last week that turned out to be a small tear in the ulnar collateral ligament – the same ligament had been replaced in Tommy John’s surgeries. It remains to be seen whether or not this surgery is in Harper’s future, but it appears that Phils’ current intention is to keep Harper’s racket in the squad in any way possible.

Signed by the Phillies to a 13-year deal worth $330 million ahead of the 2019 season, Harper has mostly lived up to his billing, collecting. The first three seasons of the deal. 2021 saw his best season in Philadelphia, leading the majors in both idling and OPS with a batting streak.

Whatever the expectations, Joe Girardi’s team can’t afford to take Harper out of the squad for long. It’s still early days, of course, but the Phillies are already seven games off their pace in the NL East. They may have experienced a bit of bad luck already earlier in the year: despite their plus-10 operating difference, for example, the Phillies are three-under 0.500 into play on Thursday, and there is no offense (with a total of Rs + of 106 ) nor the promotion’s crew (which has an xFIP of .365, ninth in the adult) underperformed clearly. However, with both the hot Mets and the Braves world champion (not to mention Marlins rich in scam) In the same division, Gerardi will need to patch the ship sooner rather than later if his team is to save more lives than faint hopes of a league title.

After both signed Nick Castellanos (A five-year deal worth $100 million) And Kyle Schwarber (Four years, $79 millionIn the off season, the Phils were already playing with defensive fire, but one was expected to be a DH the vast majority of the time. While they both delivered some hits at the plate (Castellanos much more, with 147 wRC+ to Schwarber’s 99), they’re also the responsibility of the defense – an effect that is amplified when they share a field. Harper is rated almost average on the right (his 9.9 career in the UZR indicates he’s saved nearly ten runs over his eleven-year career, though his advanced defensive stats are more controversial than attacking) , but replacing him with either Castellanos or Schwarber represents a significant reduction.