Harper has brushed aside questions that his power outage is linked in any way to his early return from offseason Tommy John surgery.
Harper, in the fifth season of a $330 million, 13-year contract, returned to the lineup in May, just 160 days after surgery on his right elbow. The 30-year-old Harper has served exclusively this season as the designated hitter. He last played right field on April 16, 2022, and has taken grounders at first base in anticipation of a possible move there after the All-Star break.
The Phillies already miss first baseman Rhys Hoskins’ pop in the lineup. Hoskins, who hit 30 homers last season, is out for 2023 with a torn ACL in his left knee. Kyle Schwarber has 24 homers and is making a run at defending his NL home run crown. But the rest of the lineup the Phillies were set to use against Atlanta right-hander AJ Smith-Shawver was light on the long ball. No other Phillies player has hit more than eight.The Phillies only have warning-track power in the standings.
Maybe a few more late-inning Harper homers can rally them in the second half toward another Red October. History shows he can start mashing in bunches. Harper has never hit less than 13 homers in a season, and one of those years was in the COVID-19-shortened 2020 campaign. Thomson says Harper’s power dip isn’t related to injury. He knows because he watches Harper crush balls into the seats with ease in batting practice.
"When we do take BP, you’ll see the raw power. It’s there," Thomson said. "The ball’s coming off the bat at the same exit velocity it normally does. It’s just a matter of getting it up in the air."
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