Bryce Harper likely to return to Phillies as strictly a designated hitter

Bryce Harper isn’t ready to hit the accelerator on his return to the field for the Phillies.

And when he does get back, it’ll likely be as a designated hitter.

Harper continues to hit off a tee but hasn’t regained flexibility in his healing left thumb to progress to facing pitching, interim manager Rob Thomson said Tuesday. Further, the Phillies are “cutting back” on Harper’s throwing program because of what Thomson characterized as “stiffness” in his right elbow.

“We’re just going to back off it for a minute,” Thomson said, “and just concentrate on the hitting.”

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Getting Harper back in the lineup, in any capacity, is the Phillies’ top priority. Thomson said there’s “no doubt in my mind” that Harper will play again this season, even if it takes longer than it initially seemed like it might.

Harper had three pins removed from his surgically repaired left thumb on Aug. 1, at which point doctors considered the fracture to be healed. He was hitting off a tee a few days later and began a light throwing program to test a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow that dogged him since the middle of April.

Although Harper has declined to put a timetable on his recovery from the thumb injury, he said last Thursday that he expected to be back by “September-ish.”

It’s unclear how many games Harper would need to play in the minors before being ready to come off the injured list. But Harper will need to face pitching and take batting practice before the Phillies consider sending him on a minor league assignment.

“It’s just, there’s not much flexibility in [the thumb], so he’s working that,” Thomson said. “There is some flexibility. I shouldn’t have said it in that way. But he needs to get more flexibility before we’ll be comfortable with him seeing pitching.”

Entering Tuesday night’s series opener against the Miami Marlins, the Phillies were 22-13 since Harper broke his thumb. Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins carried the offense through June before J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm caught fire in July. Darick Hall got called up from triple A and had eight homers in 103 at-bats for a .612 slugging percentage entering Tuesday’s game.

Harper’s thumb presumably will continue to heal. His elbow may be more problematic. He received an injection on May 22 and was scheduled to test his elbow in early July, which never happened because he got hit on the thumb by a 97 mph fastball from San Diego’s Blake Snell.

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After throwing “super light” from about 40 feet away, Harper was cautiously optimistic. If his elbow doesn’t respond to treatment, he may need Tommy John surgery after the season. And while the recovery time is shorter for non-pitchers, it could cause him to miss time next year.

Harper discussed that possibility in June, suggesting he could DH early next season while his elbow continued to heal. One potential example may be Shohei Ohtani, who had Tommy John elbow surgery on Oct. 1, 2018, and returned to the Angels as a DH on May 7, 2019.

Meanwhile, the Phillies will focus on Harper’s thumb and getting him back in the lineup any which way they can, even if it’s only at DH.

“Could be,” Thomson said of that possibility. “And I’ll take that.”

Never mind that the Phillies entered the week with a 38-19 record since making a managerial change. Thomson insisted he isn’t preoccupied with whether the team will remove the interim label from his job title.

“I really don’t think about it,” he said. “As far as I know, with next year, I think it’s a Major League Baseball rule that you have to go through a formal [hiring] process, which I think is correct and it’s fair. So, I don’t even think about it.”

If the Phillies make the playoffs, especially after starting 22-29 under Joe Girardi, Thomson will receive Manager of the Year consideration. New York Mets manager Buck Showalter may be the presumptive favorite for the award.

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In a four-game stretch, the Phillies are scheduled to face the front-runner for the Cy Young Award and two multiple-time Cy Young winners.

First up: Miami Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, who will take the ball Wednesday night having allowed more than two earned runs in only three of 22 starts. He’s 1-1 with a 2.45 ERA in three starts against the Phillies this season.

The Phillies are also lined up to face Mets stars Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom in New York on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.

“It’s a challenge we can’t avoid,” Thomson said. “We are facing some good pitchers. Just going to take the same approach we’ve been taking.”

J.T. Realmuto has agreed to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic next spring. ... Rhys Hoskins was honored before the game as the Phillies’ recipient of the MLBPAA’s Heart & Hustle Award. ... After being released by the Phillies last week, reliever Jeurys Familia signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox. ... Center fielder Justin Crawford, the Phillies’ first-round draft pick last month, made his pro debut in rookie ball. He walked and stole a base before the game got suspended by rain. ... The Phillies promoted outfielder Simón Muzziotti to triple A. Muzziotti was 14-for-25 in his last six double-A games. ... Noah Syndergaard (6-8, 4.02 ERA) will start Wednesday night against Alcantara (10-4, 1.88).