Bryce Harper Won’t Be Placed on 60-Day IL by Phillies amid Elbow Injury Rehab

The Philadelphia Phillies are keeping open the possibility that Bryce Harper could return from Tommy John surgery sooner than originally expected.

Appearing on 94WIP’s Morning Show on Tuesday (h/t Corey Seidman of NBC 10), Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said Harper won’t be placed on the 60-day injured list to start the 2023 season:

“The way we look at this, we’re not going to put him on the emergency injured list which would keep him out until May 29 because we’re going to keep our options open that hopefully he comes back. If you put him on, that means for sure he’s not (back before May 29). But at least you want to keep your options open in that case.”

Harper underwent Tommy John surgery on Nov. 23 to repair an elbow injury he originally suffered in May. He spent the majority of last season as Philadelphia’s designated hitter to avoid having to put extra strain on his elbow by playing the outfield.

The Phillies’ statement after Harper’s procedure said the prognosis for his return was around the All-Star break this season.

Four days after the procedure was done, MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki noted Harper could start swinging a bat in competitive games as soon as May. That would represent the beginning of his spring training, not necessarily a return to big league action.

Zolecki added the Phillies’ estimated timeline is primarily based on how Shohei Ohtani recovered after he had Tommy John surgery in October 2018. Ohtani was playing in games for the Los Angeles Angels on May 7, 2019.

Manager Rob Thomson told reporters Feb. 23 that Harper was “a little bit ahead” of schedule in his rehab, but he didn’t want to speculate about a return date in the event of any potential setbacks.

Unless the Phillies desperately needed an extra spot on their 40-man roster to begin the regular season, they weren’t under any pressure to place Harper on the 60-day IL.

They can always transfer him from the 10-day IL once the season begins if they need an extra roster spot or his rehab doesn’t allow him to return ahead of schedule. A potential transfer would be backdated to the start of the regular season on March 30, so it wouldn’t potentially delay his return.

Despite playing through the elbow injury last season, Harper had another fantastic campaign for the Phillies. The seven-time All-Star hit .286/.364/.514 with 18 homers and 65 RBI in 99 games.

During Philadelphia’s postseason run to the World Series, Harper had a .349/.414/.746 slash line with six homers and 13 RBI in 17 games.