Two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper made his first appearance at Philadelphia Phillies Spring Training Wednesday, and updated the collective media on his status as he recovers from the Tommy John surgery that he underwent on his right elbow this past November.
“I feel good … I feel really good,” Harper said. “I’m just excited to be back out here, some sunshine and some warm weather … just really excited to be around the team again … the training staff, the coaches, everything … it’s good to be back.”
As far as when he’ll be back, Harper was relatively non-committal, just as he was last season as he recovered from a broken left thumb.
“Not right now, no,” Harper said when asked whether he knows what his timeline is. “I think today we’ll probably go over that a little bit more, and get a sense of where they are at, where I’m at. I had a great offseason after I had surgery. I felt really good … I still feel good now. So, I don’t want to put timelines on anything because I don’t know, I’ve never dealt with anything like an elbow so it’s definitely different waters for me. So I’m really just trying to take it day by day and see how I feel.”
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski revealed earlier this spring that Harper had indeed been cleared to take dry swings. The seven-time All-Star confirmed that Wednesday, but said he has not yet progressed beyond that point.
At the time of his surgery, Jim Salisbury reported for NBC Sports Philadelphia that there was some though that Harper could return as a DH by the middle of May.
The timeline that the team officially offered was much more conservative, suggesting he could be a DH in Major League games by the All-Star Break, which will run from July 10-13.
Does the 30-year-old still feel comfortable with the timeline that the team put forward?
“As of now, right? I mean, but things can change either way. I could be after, I could be before,” Harper acknowledged. “But as of right now, that’s the date that we kind of solidified. We’re not gonna rush, we’re gonna be smart about it. We knew at the end of the year last year playing through it the whole year that this might happen, right?
“So, we’re thankful for the DH, again. I was so against it, right? But I’m all about it. I love doing it too. So, we’ll be out there when I can.”
While the Phillies reached the World Series with Harper entrenched as the DH last postseason, the best version of their team likely would be with him back in right field and either Nick Castellanos or Kyle Schwarber at DH.
Hope still remains that Harper will be able to return to right field at Citizens Bank Park at some point late in the 2023 season.
“I think it just depends on how I’m feeling,” Harper said of returning to the outfield. “I don’t think we’re going to rush back the throwing part, because we kind of don’t have to at this point. But, of course, I want to play the outfield. I want to be back out there and be in front of the fans in right field doing my stuff and hearing it from all the other teams in the league too.
“I look forward to getting back and throwing the baseball again. I miss the feeling of throwing a guy out or chasing down a ball. I’m looking forward to that when that day comes, but I don’t want to look ahead or think about looking ahead until we get to that point.”
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