Bryce Harper MRI reveals mild right arm strain; Andrew McCutchen returns to Citizens Bank Park

Bryce Harper hasn’t felt quite himself since April 12, when he made a throw from right field in a game against the Mets. He said he didn’t feel a pop, but a feeling that was comparable to straining a hamstring. Harper, who hasn’t made a start in right field since April 16, said Friday that an MRI on his right arm reveled a mild strain. He’s going to take it day-by-day, but the plan for the foreseeable future is for him to stick at DH. He’ll throw again on Tuesday, and see how he feels.

Harper has never dealt with arm pain in his career, so he doesn’t know how long could it take for him to recover. He has not undergone any treatments for it and says it only bothers him when he throws, not when he hits. He’s grateful to the DH spot so he can continue to get his at-bats in, but is also eager to return to the outfield at some point soon.

» READ MORE: Ten years (already) of Bryce Harper: From teen phenom to 'I grew up watching you play'

“It makes me feel bad that guys don’t get days off,” Harper said of adjusting to the DH. “That’s kind of how I feel. It’s a spot [Nick Castellanos] can use, or J.T. [Realmuto], or [Kyle] Schwarber. I just want to get back out there and play. I enjoy the outfield. I enjoy playing right, with the fans and everything like that.”

Shortstop Didi Gregorius, who was hit by a pitch on his left hand Tuesday, is progressing in the right direction, according to manager Joe Girardi. Gregorius was looked by doctors in Philadelphia, and while he has still has some swelling in his left hand, he is doing better than he was Wednesday.

Gregorius is supposed to do some light swings in the batting cage soon, to see how his grip feels. There is no ETA on his return yet, but Girardi says it likely won’t be too long.

The Phillies reinstated centerfielder Odúbel Herrera from the 10-day IL prior to Friday’s game against the Brewers, and optioned rookie Simón Muzziotti to double-A Reading. Girardi said that the plan right now is to platoon Herrera with outfielder Matt Vierling.

“You’ve got to remember, Odúbel isn’t that built up either, but Vierling has had so much success against left-handers, it’s hard to keep his bat out of the lineup,” Girardi said. “There might be a day that I give Schwarber off, and put Vierling in left, and play Odúbel.”

Herrera was placed on the injured list April 4 with a right oblique strain. From April 12-19, he was on rehab assignments in Clearwater, Fla., and in Lehigh Valley.

For the third straight game, Girardi has penciled in Jean Segura and Rhys Hoskins at the top of his lineup card, at No. 1 and 2. He says that he’ll let this lineup ride for a little bit in an effort to keep things consistent.

“You start to look at some of the on-base against right-handers for Jean and Hoskins and J.T. and it’s pretty similar,” he said. “There’s not one guy that’s clear cut more than the other. So we said why don’t we just try to leave it the same, let the guys get comfortable with it, instead of having a different lineup for left handers and right handers. These guys are professional hitters. They know they need to perform. Make them comfortable.”

The move towards more consistency is notable because in the Phillies’ first 13 games, they’ve had 13 different lineups.

“Part of the (reason) we’ve had different lineups has been because of the people that we’ve had, in a sense,” Girardi said. “We’ve rotated the DH a bit. It’s early on, and I knew I needed to get guys a day off. But I believe that hitters like to know where they’re going to be everyday. I believe in that.”

“I think we haven’t played our best baseball, I think everybody knows that. I think a lot of guys personally in here haven’t played their best baseball, myself included. So, I think we just need to go out there and start today, continue our days trying to get better, trying to find out who we are as a team and who we can be.”

Former Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen returned to Citizens Bank Park today and had some interesting thoughts about how the Phillies might overcome their playoff drought.

“I can only speak to the three years I was here, but in order to win, you’ve just got to be consistent,” he said. “We weren’t consistent. We were inconsistent as a whole. When the hitting was clicking, maybe the pitching wasn’t. When the pitching was clicking, maybe the hitting wasn’t. And then we had some times where things were rolling and it would be inconsistent. So, I think inconsistencies of the season was what led us to not having success that we knew we could have.

“The teams that make that push and do well, they’re consistently pitching, consistently hitting, they’re finding little ways to make a difference. They’re scratching little wins away. They’re winning those one-run ballgames. They’re holding leads. When you can stay consistent and win ... we weren’t able to do that when I was here. We had the team, we just weren’t consistent enough.”