Bryce Harper has come around at the plate after a month-long slump out of the All-Star break, going 12-for-33 (.364) in his last nine games with six doubles and four walks.
But he ended Saturday night with a home run drought of 81 plate appearances dating back to August 9 in Arizona and at times it has looked like he's been playing hurt. He narrowly ended it in his final at-bat, drilling a ball to the back of the warning track in right-center off Jesse Chavez.
Harper admitted to MLB.com on Friday afternoon that he's dealing with nagging soreness in his right wrist and right elbow but he's been hesitant to expand, not wanting to make excuses.
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"The elbow. The wrist. It's not anything crazy, but obviously it’s there," he told MLB.com.
He then went out Friday night and picked up three hits, including two doubles.
"I feel fine, I feel good," he said after the game. "It's August so I think everybody's grinding a little bit, but it's just part of the game, it's part of the process, it's part of the season. Just to have to stay the course. I rely heavily on my body. I've just got to go."
Three weeks is a long time for Harper to go homerless but it's not even close to the worst drought of his career. That came last season when he went 37 games and 166 plate appearances. From the time he snapped that skid last July through the end of the regular season, he hit .293 with a 1.000 OPS.
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There's a full month of regular-season baseball to play and the Phillies haven't locked anything up, so they won't be able to take it easy on Harper for at least three more weeks, nor would he want that.
They just have to hope the nagging pain doesn't become anything worse by the first week of October.
Does Harper think he'll be feeling any better by then?
"I just have to," he said, "that's it."