Bryce Harper’s stiff back might be no big deal now, but it’s a fact of life for the Phillies slugger

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It’s that time of spring training — five weeks down, seven days to go — when the most notable things that can happen to a player with a guaranteed roster spot are almost all bad.

Ask Rhys Hoskins.

So, when Bryce Harper woke up last Friday and felt stiffness in his lower back, he mentioned it to the Phillies’ training staff and manager Rob Thomson. Everyone agreed that the best course of action was to take Harper out of action for a few days. Why ask for trouble?

It was the best solution short of encasing him in Bubble Wrap.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper has a stiff back; Rob Thomson has ‘zero’ concern that he’ll be ready for Phillies’ opener

“That was the biggest thing when I talked to Thomper,” Harper said Monday, Day 4 without baseball activities for the Face of the Franchise. “I was like, ‘There’s just no point.’ I don’t want to feel tired or run down or anything like that. He was like, ‘All right, let’s take a couple days.’ ”

Bottom line: “I’m fine,” Harper insisted.

Probably. Or at least he will be by March 28, better known as opening day. Asked when he expects to play in a game again, Harper said he’s “hoping by Friday,” either against the Detroit Tigers at BayCare Ballpark or minor leaguers on a back field at the Carpenter Complex.

Either way, Harper maintains that none of this is a big deal. And it’s not.

It’s a fact of life for him now.

Harper’s history of back problems can be traced to September 2020. An MRI at the time showed an issue with the quadratus lumborum muscle. A stiff back caused him to miss one game in April 2021. Last August, he left a game with mid-back spasms, missed the next game, then was the designated hitter for 14 of 20 games after that.

Overall, Harper has mostly managed his back pain, never needing to go on the injured list. When the Phillies decided after last season to keep him at first base instead of returning him to the outfield, they thought the position switch might ease the strain on his back.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper not the only star making a position switch: ‘Nowadays, it’s about adaptability’

But with Harper at age 31, the problem isn’t going away.

“My back hurt when I played the outfield, too,” Harper said, laughing. “I don’t know. Obviously it’s going to be a transition phase at first base. I’m going to feel some aches and pains. I did last year.”

Harper began learning first base last April and played his first game at the new position on July 21. He explained that his soreness last season was located “more in my legs than in my back, just from the stretching and being on my feet” after DHing for more than a year because of a torn ligament in his right elbow.

This spring, Harper has started most mornings by taking grounders on the half-field adjacent to the clubhouse at BayCare Ballpark, a more focused extension of the first-base crash course that he took last season from coach Bobby Dickerson.

“It’s Bobby’s fault,” Harper said, laughing again. “He’s working me too hard.”

Seriously, though, Harper said he likely “overdid it” last week between the volume of work at first base and swings in the batting cage. Thomson vouched for that, noting that Harper has been “doing a lot of work, a lot of swings, a lot of defensive work.”

Harper said it caught up to him after Thursday’s game.

Anyone with a bad back could feel his pain.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper has a revised Phillies contract on his mind. John Middleton doesn’t want him to think about it.

It’s notable that Harper differentiated between this episode and last August’s. He didn’t experience spasms this time. And the location of the discomfort was lower in his back.

Regardless, it won’t be the last time that Harper’s back flares. It’s bound to stiffen again and probably at a less convenient time than the final week of spring training.

It’s something that he and the Phillies will have to live with.

“I feel like it’s kind of the same, that feeling of standing every day all over [again],” Harper said. “I don’t have spasms right now, which is good. Just sore.”

Harper has gotten only 22 at-bats in eight Grapefruit League games, though that’s the least of the Phillies’ concerns. He didn’t play at all in spring training last season — or go on a minor league assignment — before he made his 2023 debut on May 2 after Tommy John elbow surgery.

And he still wound up batting .293/.401/.499 with 21 homers in 546 plate appearances.

If Harper didn’t face major-league pitching again until opening day, it would be a landslide trade for having him healthy against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park. If keeping his back from barking means giving him a few days as a DH and putting Kyle Schwarber back in left field, it would be worth that, too.

» READ MORE: With a historic contract comes great — and often, ceremonial — responsibility. For Zack Wheeler, that means starting opening day.

Maybe it even means giving Harper a day off at the first hint of trouble.

Whatever it takes. That’s life as a slugger with a bad back.

Thomson said he has “zero” concern that Harper will be ready for the opener. Harper echoed that sentiment.

“I’m fine,” he repeated.

Now it’s about making sure he stays that way.