Philadelphia Phillies Facing Yet Another Bryce Harper Concern

When the Philadelphia Phillies acquired second baseman Luis Arraez at the MLB trade deadline, everyone wondered how exactly it was going to work positionally. After all, the Phillies already had Bryson Stott at second.

Philadelphia's solution? Moving Stott over to third base, shifting Alec Bohm over to first and then sending Bryce Harper back to the outfield for the first time since some very brief action there in 2022.

The results have been mixed, to say the least.

Harper has gone hitless over his last three games, but there is no question he has generally looked more comfortable at the plate ever since the addition of Arraez into the lineup.

Defensively, however, has been another story.

In fact, a pretty frightening injury concern has now surfaced for Harper, who has been battling knee soreness off and on since July 11. The problem? The malady has returned after since Harper's move to right field.

“I was not feeling it, but the more I’ve ramped it up, I’ve gotten sore," Harper said, via The Athletic. "I think the more I play, I think it’ll help me — just getting in condition more. I feel like I’m in spring training again, trying to get through everything. The more I play, the more my body is accustomed to playing the outfield, I think it’ll kind of weasel its way out.”

That's the hope, right?

The Phillies are in the thick of a heated NL Wild Card race, and they are hanging on for dear life. They sit at 64-57 and are in a tie with both the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres for the second Wild Card slot. The Miami Marlins are also right there, just two games back in the loss column.

The absolute last thing Philadelphia needs if an injury to Harper, and let's also remember that the Phillies do not exactly have a ton of outfield options. Plus, Kyle Schwarber is occupying the designated hitter slot, so it's not like the Phils can move Harper to DH in order to get his body some rest.

“Obviously it’s bothering me a little bit,” Harper said. “But we’ll see. I’ll take a DH (day) any time I can get it, but I don’t think we’re at that point yet.”

I'm not sure the Phillies will ever get to that point, because that would require putting Schwarber in the field, and Philadelphia surely wants to avoid that at all costs.

And let's remember: Schwarber is managing a back injury himself.

Philadelphia doesn't appear to be in the best of spots right now, and if Harper's knee issue becomes even more of a thing, it will spell very bad news for Don Mattingly's squad.