The reigning National League Most Valuable Player was not in the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the San Diego Padres as he recovers from a platelet-rich plasma injection in his right elbow.
A small tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his right elbow forced the slugging right fielder to play only as Philadelphia's designated hitter. He hopes to return against the Padres on Wednesday or Thursday. When he returns,Harper will remain as the designated hitter. He has played in his usual right field spot eight times.
Before Tuesday's game,Harper said that he didn't think he would feel better for about seven to 10 days.
He was named the NL Player of the Week after batting.609 (14-for-23) with three homers, six doubles, eight RBIs and a 1.902 OPS in six games. He missed the Dodgers game.
The biggest thing is that I can hit, as of right now. Make sure it heals properly. We are a little bit away from being where I can play right field, throwing a baseball the right way. The way that I want to be. I can hit and we will stick with that for now.
The main goal is to return to right field. The 29-year-old star is batting.305 with nine home runs, 14 doubles, 27 RBIs, and an NL-best.634 slugging percentage.
"I'm very lucky it's not my left arm,"Harper said.
The team returned home from a road trip that included a win over the Dodgers.
The manager of the Philadelphians said that the player has a number of weeks of no throwing ahead of him.