When it comes to the possibility of when Harper will return to the field, Thomson said that is likely to be a couple months away. Thomson said with the number of days off that the Phillies have in May, the expectation is that Harper can be in the lineup every day as long as he remains healthy. Turner is hitting second followed by Harper, Castellanos and Bryson Stott. Thomson moved Schwarber from fifth back to leadoff, where he batted most of last season. Once he gets hot, we’re going to be a handful.” “When you see it, you’re going to see a couple pretty good hitters way down there because Harper is back. “It really creates a long lineup,” Thomson said.

Brandon Marsh, who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Los Angeles Angels last year, is fifth in the majors with a. The Phillies added Trea Turner - a former teammate of Harper’s in Washington - to join a batting order that includes Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos and J.T. His only fair-ball contact was a groundout to third baseman Max Muncy in the fourth inning. Overall, he fouled off four pitches and had swinging strikes on five. Harper saw breaking balls on nine of 16 pitches over four at-bats. Now we’re just rolling into the season and playing as many games as I can.” You know, going through six months of grinding, hard work and to be able to get back today I was extremely excited. I want the results to be better,” Harper said. “I think you’re never excited for what just happened, right? You don’t want that to happen. While the two-time NL MVP was pleased to be back in what many consider to be a miraculous turnaround, there were positives and negatives to take from the first night back. Harper went 0 for 4 and struck out three times in the Phillies’ 13-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

The Philadelphia Phillies slugger is trying to stress something else now that he is back in the lineup - patience. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Bryce Harper defied the odds and returned 160 days after Tommy John surgery on his right elbow.

Orange tommy there there