UPDATE [3:10 p.m.] – Harper won't play for the IronPigs Thursday night, per NBC Sports Philadelphia's Jim Salisbury. He'll have the night off and work out instead.
But take that and pair it with the possibility of a return this weekend for the Pittsburgh series, and the timing of it all can raise an eyebrow.
EARLIER...
Could Bryce Harper return sooner than expected from his rehab assignment?
Apparently, that's now a very real possibility.
MLB Network's Jon Morosi, on the air this morning and then later on Twitter, put out there that the Phillies could add Harper to the active roster as soon as today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday), which would have him back in Philadelphia in time for this weekend's series against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He walked twice and homered twice in game 1 against Braves-affiliated Gwinnett, then went 3-for-5 with two doubles, including the walk-off, in game 2 on Wednesday night.
The original plan was to have Harper take at-bats Tuesday-Saturday, rest Sunday, then lock in a return date to the Phillies, which was expected to be when the club left for Arizona on August 29.
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After Tuesday night's game up in Allentown, Harper stressed patience and the need for reps, but he's clearly seeing the ball well, so it stands to reason that the timeline may have possibly been accelerated.
"We're gonna take it one day at a time," Harper said. "Understanding that tonight was great, right? But at the same time, I need the at-bats, I need to be able to see pitches, see different guys, different angles, understanding how my body's gonna react, what my thumb's gonna be like, and just try to go from there."
And, if we're being honest here, the Pirates aren't exactly the fiercest competition in baseball right now. If there's any team to ease your way back into the majors against, it's probably Pittsburgh.
“A possibility, yeah,” interim manager Rob Thomson told MLB.com's Todd Zolecki on Wednesday about a Harper return this weekend. “It just depends on how he feels. But that was pretty impressive [Tuesday] night.”
At 69-55, the Phillies hold the second NL Wild Card spot with a two-game lead over San Diego. They'll aim for the completion of a four-game sweep of visiting Cincinnati Thursday night, then look to lock in their postseason standing with their top hitter and the reigning NL MVP back in the lineup as they move through the season's final stretch in September.
Following the club's 7-6 win over the Reds on Tuesday, the players caught wind of Harper's performance down in the minors, and second baseman Jean Segura said exactly what everyone in Philadelphia was thinking.
"Bring him up," he said (via Corey Seidman at NBC Sports Philly). "He doesn't need any more at-bats, he's ready."
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