Phillies star first baseman Harper is on the injury list after suffering the same wrist injury last year

Bryce Harper has been playing since last May with persistent pain in his right wrist. Faced with the same injury that recurs again in 2025, Harper and the Phillies have taken a different approach this time.

In the early hours of Sunday morning (Pittsburgh local time Saturday night), the Phillies put Harper on a 10-day injury list ahead of their PNC court against the Pirates. The decision stemmed from an MRI on Friday night, which confirmed inflammation of the right wrist.

"The injury has been so severe that it has become difficult to even swing the bat," Harper admits, "and now is the right time to rest and heal." The team brought in rookie Otto Kemp from the triple-A Lehigh Valley, the No. 24 rookie who made his major league debut at third base and Alec Bohm to replace the first base.

Harper missed five games last week with a right elbow contusion (hit by Spencer Stred's speedball on May 27), but he stressed that the wrist discomfort actually predates the elbow injury and is exactly the same injury that plagued him for most of the season last year. The data confirms the impact: last year's star game first 81 games delivered a brilliant result of 0.301 batting average, 21 hits, 61 RBIs, and 0.982 attack index; After the star game, 64 games slipped to 0.266 batting average, 9 hits, 26 RBIs, and 0.793 attack index.

While Harper admitted to playing with a long-term injury last August, he refused to blame the injury solely for the decline. The recurrence made him suffer excruciatingly with every swing: "Of course it's frustrating not to play. I never wanted to miss a game, but it was obviously not a good idea to keep going. "

"It was a tough decision," Harper said in a deep voice, "I've fought with injuries a lot in my career, last year, and most of this year. But now I really don't want to hold on anymore. "

The key question is the recovery cycle. Harper revealed that it was completely painless from December last year to the beginning of the season, meaning it will take about two months from the end of the season on October 9 last year until the pain subsides. However, head coach Rob Thomson believes that the treatment with the team will speed up recovery: "The medical team can follow up at any time, and the recovery time should be shorter. "

Cautionary fact: After six days off from May 28 to June 2 with an elbow injury, Harper collapsed again after just three games of returning to the country due to severe wrist pain. When asked if he was concerned about a long-term absence, Thomson responded cautiously: "The information we have at the moment is limited and we can't assess it at the moment. "

The healing process becomes a waiting game. Harper will receive daily treatments, but the timing of her return depends entirely on how quickly the pain subsides. Ruling out surgery, the superstar said: "I believe the injury will heal naturally, I'm just not sure how long it will take. Complete this round of treatment first and then look at the condition, and come back when the inflammation subsides. "