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| Associated Press |
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Harper should be cleared to hit, field and run the bases "in a couple of days," having already proven his knee can handle walking, jogging and running tests. The swelling that was treated nine days ago by a cortisone shot and platelet-rich plasma injection has gone down and has not returning despite the increased activity.
"It's been good progress," Rizzo said. "That allows us to ramp it up. Now he'll go from activities to baseball activities, and we'll build from that."
Rizzo won't put a firm timetable on Harper's ultimate return to the lineup, though club officials have believed all along it could happen quickly once the 20-year-old outfielder was able to resume baseball activities. He is expected to go on a brief minor-league rehab assignment, perhaps a couple of days, before coming off the DL.
"We're just going to take it day-by-day," Rizzo said, "and see where he is the next day and see how the knee responds to that activity that day."
Once he returns, the Nationals do believe Harper will have to continue monitoring the injury, which was diagnosed as bursitis and could act up again over the course of the season.
"When it gets stressed and hit again, there's a possibility it could swell up again," Rizzo said. "It's something he's certainly going to have to monitor, and we'll see if it happens again and if we have to treat it again."
14 comments:
Time to slide on your a$$ as Davey Johnson said.
Looks like he's on track to return early next week like I thought.
I have ticket Wednesday's game vs. Az.
I have Tues/Wed vs AZ and then Going to NY for Fri/Sat soo hopefully get to see him.
I will believe it when I see it.
Gonzalez's seven-inning 127-pitch start wasn't nearly as good as it looked; wore himself out leaving runners all over the bases (4BB) and after giving up only one run not in condition to go into the eighth. No command; no sign that he considers it a priority.
More of the same tonight, apparently. Likely still feeling the effects of the last start.
Harper's return will be none too soon. It's incredible how most nights we're scrapping for every run, counting the hits on the fingers of one hand. Maybe Bryce can jack things up a bit.
He will definitely be back by the All Star break.
Theophilus - This is who Gio is. His BB/9 rate of 4.1 this year is identical to what it was his last two years in Oakland, when he first became a front line pitcher. It dipped to 3.4 last year, which is why he was so dominant. Also, if you look at his K/9 and ERA stats from those last two Oakland years, they are also very similar to this year. Only his Wins are down because he's getting little run support.
Gio's a very good starter--a legit No. 2 on a good team, an ace on a bad one. We should appreciate him for what he is, especially since he is on a very team friendly contract given his level of production (he won't even make as much as Haren in 2018, assuming the Nats pick up his options).
As the song goes, the Nats have 99 problems, but Gio ain't one.
Gio finds your lack of faith disturbing, Theophilus. He and Desmond LAUGH at the Legion of Doom! :D
theo.
Not so much re: Gio. Best outing yet.
Gio was not all over the place. 1 walk, 11 k's, 2 hits, 2 ER is superb. He basically made one bad pitch in 7 innings...
@Ghost of Steve M.: As Harper pointed-out, sliding feet-first is harder on this particular injury, because like most players, it's his left leg that he tucks under him and before the rest of the body reaches the ground you actually slide initially with all your weight on the lower leg as it's bent under you. Exactly what you don't need in this case, it really torques the knee. We saw how badly he came-up limping after making that sliding feet-first catch in shallow right field late in the game on May 22 (weekday afternoon game) vs. the Giants. That was the most obvious time he aggravated it and that wasn't even mentioned later when he went on the DL.
To clarify: As a general rule, yes, sliding feet-first is much better for reducing the risk of a variety of injuries, but until Harper's knee is completely healed (which might require an off-season to make happen, bursitis is no fun), he's going to be at greater risk of re-aggravating this particular injury by sliding feet-first. He could try tucking his right leg under him instead of his left, but by the time a player reaches that level, something like sliding technique (since they all learned feet-first as kids) happens as second-nature, and is tough to re-learn.
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