The Philadelphia Phillies are reeling, having now dropped eight of their last nine games to drop to 3.5 games behind the New York Mets in the NL East ahead of a matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Paul Skenes on Sunday, where they will attempt to avoid a sweep.
The offense has been floundering, and the path to turning things around recently got a little more bleak after some concerning details emerged about slugger Bryce Harper’s wrist injury that put him on the injured list earlier this week.
NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Corey Seidman recently tweeted out that Harper has been managing this wrist injury for a while and is hoping to be fully recovered after a bit of rest and treatment.
“Bryce Harper said he’s felt the wrist pain with every swing. Got to a point where he didn’t think it made sense to keep playing through, didn’t want it to cause further injury. Thinks getting hit in the elbow didn’t help. Hopes rest and treatment knocks it out.”
Bryce Harper said he’s felt the wrist pain with every swing. Got to a point where he didn’t think it made sense to keep playing through, didn’t want it to cause further injury. Thinks getting hit in the elbow didn’t help. Hopes rest and treatment knocks it out.
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS) June 7, 2025
Harper hit the 10-day IL Saturday after a lackluster start to the season by his standards, as he has hit .258 with nine home runs, 34 RBIs, and an .814 OPS.
He had just four hits in his last 28 at-bats before landing on the IL, including going 0-for-8 with five strikeouts during the first two games in the series against the Toronto Blue Jays earlier in the week.
It became clear that Harper wasn’t himself, so hopefully this is just a quick absence that will allow him to get back to the MVP-level hitter he has been for over a decade.
Philly’s offense is going to have to find a way to atone for his absence, as even though he had been scuffling a bit, the value of his presence is immeasurable.
