Phillies’ Jean Segura hopes to begin rehab assignment soon; Bryce Harper to be re-evaluated

The last time Jean Segura was in the lineup, the Phillies were eight games under .500 and in the midst of a five-game losing streak that eventually cost Joe Girardi his job. Needless to say, a lot has changed in the 52 days since the 32-year-old infielder broke his finger while attempting to lay down a bunt against the Giants. But the dramatic reversal of the Phillies’ fortunes mostly has overlooked second base, where five players have combined to post a pitiful .622 OPS in Segura’s stead.

None of this is lost on Segura, who told reporters on Friday that he hopes to begin a rehab assignment with an eye toward rejoining the team in a couple of weeks.

“We’ll see in the next couple days how I feel,” Segura said. “It’s going in a good direction. I hope in the next week I’ll be able to play in a rehab game and then [be ready] when the team comes back from the road.”

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Even if that timeline is a bit aggressive, as interim manager Rob Thomson wryly opined when informed of Segura’s comments, the Phillies seem optimistic that they will not have to wait long once their second baseman is eligible to be activated from the injured list on Aug. 3. He has been taking batting practice for several weeks now with no ill effects. The biggest lingering effects of the injury are in the field, particularly when throwing, but Segura said Friday was the best he’d felt, and he was optimistic he would be ready for game action soon.

Thomson did not rule out the possibility that Segura is ready in a couple of weeks. After a six-game homestand that began Friday against the Cubs, the Phillies will embark on a six-game road trip through Pittsburgh and Atlanta. They return home Aug. 4, one day after Segura is eligible to be activated from the 60-day IL.

While it’s conceivable that he could be ready after five or six minor league games, the Phillies have every reason to be cautious when it comes to re-acclimating their second basemen to game situations. At the time of the injury, which occurred May 31, Segura was hitting .275./.324/.407 with six home runs in 179 plate appearances. In his place, the five other second basemen have combined to hit .224/.229/.393 with a .622 OPS that would rank third-lowest among NL teams at the position. Yet the Phillies entered Friday having gone 28-15 since Segura’s injury, leaving them in a virtual tie for a playoff berth in the wild card standings.

“I’m proud of my team,” Segura said.

The Phillies should have a clearer picture of Bryce Harper’s timeline on Monday, when the MVP outfielder is scheduled to have his surgically repaired left thumb re-evaluated.

Neither Harper nor the team has offered even an approximate window for his expected return since he had three pins inserted to the fractured finger on June 29. Once the pins are removed — which could happen on Monday — Harper will be able to begin rehabilitating the injury in earnest.

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Privately, the Phillies have viewed a six-week return as within the realm of possibility, a timeframe that would put Harper back on the field sometime in the middle of next month.

As of Friday, the Phillies were 11-8 in the 19 games that Harper had missed since fracturing the thumb on a hit-by-pitch in San Diego on June 25. At the time of his injury, the reigning NL MVP was hitting .318/.385/.599 with 15 home runs in 275 plate appearances.

While Thomson said Friday that he expects Zach Eflin to return to the rotation at some point this season, the right-hander’s recovery from knee soreness does not sound imminent.

The Phillies are currently focusing Eflin’s rehabilitation program on strengthening the area around his knee, which continues to keep him off the mound.

The free-agent-to-be last pitched June 25 and clearly will need some time to get his arm back into game condition once the knee is healthy enough for him to pitch.

Eflin has a 4.37 ERA with 56 strikeouts and 15 walks in 68 innings over 13 starts.

For the foreseeable future, the Phillies will fill his spot in the rotation on a case-by-case basis, with right-hander Bailey Falter scheduled to get his sixth start of the season Sunday against the Cubs. In his first five starts, Falter has a 4.79 ERA with solid strikeout and walk numbers (21 and six) but a concerning penchant for allowing extra base hits (four home runs, six doubles, and a triple).

With Kyle Gibson on the mound in Friday’s series opener and Falter set to start Sunday, the rest of the Phillies’ rotation to start the second half will see Zack Wheeler pitch Saturday, Ranger Suárez on Monday, and Aaron Nola on Tuesday. ... Right-hander Sam Coonrod was scheduled to begin a rehab assignment on Friday with an eye toward rejoining the Phillies bullpen for the first time this season. The hard-throwing Coonrod posted a 4.04 ERA in 42 appearances last year but has been sidelined by a shoulder injury all year. ... Phillies minor league pitcher Joalbert Angulo has been suspended 60 games for testing positive for Tamoxifen, a performance-enhancing substance. Angulo, a 20-year-old lefty, had appeared in four games for the Phillies’ Dominican Summer League team.