Phillies star Bryce Harper returns to action with wrist at a ‘standstill’

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper stopped noticing further improvement in his inflamed right wrist in recent days, so he decided to give it a go.

The Phillies activated their superstar on Monday after a stint on the injured last that lasted over three weeks. Harper will play first base and bat third as the club opens up a three-game series against the Padres at Citizens Bank Park, marking his first appearance since June 5.

“I didn’t think I was going to take any other steps forward of feeling better or anything like that,” Harper said. “I thought we were kind of at a standstill of it feeling the same the last couple days. From (batting practice) to live (hitting sessions) and things like that, it kind of gave us the same results each day.”

With the wrist “feeling good” for a couple days, the Phillies circled Monday as Harper’s return date. It’s worth wondering if there should be some concern about the fact that his condition plateaued instead of continuing to improve. But when asked for his take on Harper’s “standstill” comment, manager Rob Thomson downplayed that notion.

“It sounds like he’s fine to me,” Thomson said.

Thomson did acknowledge that the team will need to monitor Harper’s wrist and overall health, and the two-time National League MVP said that he “would imagine” that this is something he will need to manage as the season goes along and he sees how it progresses. He dealt with wrist pain last year, and it popped up again, even if it’s not as severe as it once was.

“It feels better,” Harper said. “It feels way better than where I was three weeks ago, four weeks ago or whatever it was. So I’m happy with where we are.”

Harper may need some rest at times as he works his way back, and Philadelphia’s schedule will offer him quite a few chances. The All-Star break is in two weeks, and the Phillies have every Thursday off until Aug. 14.

If the slugger needs an additional game off once in a while, the club still has Otto Kemp, the rookie called up when Harper hit the IL, to fill in at first base. He showed enough to stay on the roster, while the Phillies opted to designate infielder Buddy Kennedy for assignment to make room for Harper.

But for the most part, Harper will be back in there, providing a big boost for a lineup that has looked questionable in the middle of the order in his absence. The Phillies, 49-35 on the year and in first place in the NL East, went 12-10 since Harper last played. He certainly changes the whole dynamic.

“Makes our lineup a lot longer,” Thomson said. “Gives us another guy that’s selective and understands the strike zone. He’s going to put some more slug in the lineup.”

Harper, slashing .258/.368/.446 with nine home runs in 57 games, said he’s excited to get out on the field. Of course, the wrist will continue to be a topic of discussion, but he’s not going to put too much focus on the possibility of injuring it again.

“I’m just going to play my game and just go out there and do my thing,” Harper said. “I can’t really worry about that.”