The Phillies’ Bryce Harper hasn’t homered in a month, but he’s not concerned — or letting up

Harper, who is playing through a sore wrist and irritation in his right elbow, is in the second-longest power drought of his career.

Phillies star Bryce Harper is playing through a sore wrist and irritation in his right elbow. He is entering the week without a home run since Aug. 9.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published Sept. 9, 2024, 1:17 p.m. ET

One month since his last easygoing jaunt around the bases, Bryce Harper isn’t taking much of anything for granted.

But Harper hit a ball hard — 96.8 mph off the bat, according to Statcast — and high — 32-degree launch angle — in the seventh inning of the Phillies’ 10-1 loss Sunday in Miami, so he took a beat at home plate to follow its arc as it flew toward the bleachers in right field.

And then, it clanked off the top of the wall.

“Unbelievable,” manager Rob Thomson said. “He can’t buy one.”

Indeed, the ball would have been out of 16 of 30 ballparks, including Citizens Bank Park. Harper instead narrowly beat Marlins right fielder Jesús Sánchez’s throw to second base to leg out a double, his homerless stretch reaching 25 games and 108 plate appearances.

It’s the second-longest drought of his career.

Is it also a cause for concern?

Not according to Harper.

“Obviously home runs will come,” he said after Sunday’s game. “I know it’s been a while. But I’ve been taking some good swings and getting some good results. Just got to keep going.”

Harper is a perfectionist, often harder on himself than even any critics. When he goes through a power outage, there’s usually an explanation. Last season, for instance, his 38-game, 164-plate appearance dry spell between homers coincided with his return from Tommy John elbow surgery with neither a spring training nor a minor-league assignment as a tune-up.

This year, Harper is playing through a sore wrist and irritation in his right elbow, nagging issues that he disclosed to MLB.com two weeks ago. He said his wrist has felt better lately; the elbow pain, which he maintains is unrelated to his surgically reconstructed ligament, is intermittent.

Maybe the injuries have sapped some of Harper’s power. Although he isn’t hitting the ball out of the yard, he is still hitting it hard. Since the All-Star break, a time frame that encompasses a 2-for-38 slump, he ranks third among Phillies regulars in average exit velocity (91 mph) and second in hard-hit rate (48.6%).

Harper is getting hits, too. After going 1-for-12 with six strikeouts in a three-game series in Atlanta last month, he was 22-for-59 (.373) with nine doubles, six RBIs, six walks, nine strikeouts, and a .973 OPS in 16 games entering Monday night at home against the Rays. Overall, he’s batting .285 with 36 doubles, 26 homers, and an .894 OPS.

If anything, Harper is barreling fewer balls, a quality of contact based on an ideal combination of launch angle and exit velocity. Before the break, 12.3% of his batted balls were barreled; since then, it has been only 4.9%.

And there are times, usually after swings and misses, when Harper looks downright uncomfortable at the plate. It happened on a swing last week in Toronto. Then, in the first inning Sunday, he winced after taking an awkward half-swing at a low-and-away changeup from Marlins starter Edward Cabrera.

“I’m going to swing and miss and it’s going to hurt,” Harper said. “You’re going to see it probably for the rest of the year. Just one of those things. Get it healthy in the offseason. You’re going to see it again probably a couple more times before the end of the year.”

Said Thomson: “He just gets those stingers every once in a while. He’s good.”

The Phillies trust Harper to speak up when he needs a rest. Likewise, he places considerable trust in head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit, who oversaw his record 160-day comeback from Tommy John surgery. And Harper said he has been told he can’t do more damage to his wrist or elbow by continuing to play every day.

Based on his experiences with aches and pains, Harper doesn’t think a day off would help, either. So, he has started 46 of 47 games since the All-Star break, playing all but 10 innings in those games. Other than Sunday, when he was the designated hitter, he has remained at first base.

And it figures to stay that way at least until the Phillies clinch their first NL East title since 2011.

Even then, Thomson has talked about the importance of locking up a bye in the best-of-three wild-card series and finishing with the best record in baseball to secure home-field advantage throughout the postseason.

But there’s one thing that matters to him more than all others.

“It’s about health,” Thomson said. “Any type of ache or pain, the red flag really goes up at this time of year and you try to knock it out. So, health is what I’m really concerned about the most.

“And then once we get to the last couple games, there are certain things I look at statistics-wise for each individual player. A guy could hit .300 or get 100 RBI. Whatever that special number is. I look at that as well.”

Surely, though, the value of easing off the gas in the final week of the season to make sure he’s healthy in the playoffs will outweigh statistical milestones for Harper.

“This division ain’t close to being done,” Harper said. “There’s two good teams [the Braves and Mets] behind us. We’re going to play the Mets a couple times. We’ve got to keep rolling. Just got to keep going, keep grinding.

“Maybe once we get there, hopefully we’ll get a couple days [off]. But obviously we want to win this division, we want to check off that main goal of ours. Once we get there, we’ll see.”