CHICAGO — When Bryce Harper lunged to his right and snared the grounder off the fungo bat Tuesday, he braced his fall with his surgically repaired right arm and held himself for a dramatic pause in what looked like one of those dog-yoga-thing poses.
And no doubt sent a chill up the spine of the Philadelphia Phillies organization?
“No, no,” Phillies president Dave Dombrowski said. “That’s part of his process.”
In fact, Harper looked so good during the latest round of that process in pregame work before the Phillies’ doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox that it was easy to forget this guy had Tommy John surgery on that right elbow less than five months ago — if not tempting to think he’s ready right now to help the defending National League champs rediscover their firepower after a slow start.
“I feel good,” Harper said. “I just need to be smart in what I do.”
That’s been the mantra of the organization, Bryce Harper and his doctors since the original prognosis suggested a return from the injured list of sometime around the All-Star break in July — and even after an aggressive, holistic approach by Harper moved some of those projections to sometime in June.
But after his second live batting practice Tuesday in less than a week and another vigorous workout at first base since he offered to learn the position to help fill the void left by first baseman Rhys Hoskins’ season-ending knee injury, Harper looks as much super-healer as superstar these days.
And he seemed to leave the door open for a possible return to the Phillies lineup by sometime in May, even as he resisted the urge to predict such a quick timeline.
Bryce Harper cleared for baseball drills
Bryce Harper, like Dombrowski, downplayed the sprawling play in the field Tuesday as anything more than part of a scheduled rehab program and regular medical checks that recently cleared him to begin sliding drills, including head-first back to first base on pickoff throws.
That’s a new step, at least publicly, in a process that Dombrowski said has included “no setbacks whatsoever.”
So could we be talking about a return as a DH as soon as next month for the $330 million, two-time MVP?
“I don’t know,” Harper said.
Is it possible?
“I’m not sure.”
But don’t think it’s not on his mind or the organization’s. The Phillies very conspicuously did not put Harper on the 60-day IL when the season opened, making him eligible to return … well, now.
Or maybe for that three-city road trip through the National League East that starts May 25 in Atlanta?
“I love this game. I miss playing this game. I want to get back as quick as possible,” Harper, the lefty slugger, said after taking a bunch of healthy cuts against rehabbing left-hander Ranger Suarez in the simulated game at-bats Tuesday. “But I’ve said I want to get back as smart as I can, too. And not just go out there and say that I came back the fastest.
“My body’s recovering the right way,” he added. “I worked insanely hard this offseason to make sure everything was clicking — diet, the way I went about it, weight room stuff. Everything that I could do to force the issue of me playing quicker than I was supposed to, I’ve done that. I just want to be as smart as possible when I get back and not just rush just to rush.”
Volunteering to play first base for the first time in his life is part of that, even if getting in the field likely will wait a few weeks after he’s cleared to hit as a DH. Bryce Harper was a catcher and third baseman as a kid before getting moved to the outfield after he was drafted first overall by the Washington Nationals in 2010.
How Philadelphia Phillies could use their star
And a Phillies team off to a 7-10 start as it opened its series against the White Sox — and ranked near the bottom of the league in home runs — could use him as soon as he can get a few minor-league rehab games in and function even at 70 percent or 80 percent.
“He’s a superstar. He makes our lineup so different,” Dombrowski said. “He’s one of the best players in baseball. Anytime you can get a guy back like that, you can’t wait.
“But you also have to be careful. You don’t want to rush the process and pay for it in the longterm.”
Dombrowski, of course, was the final word on not putting Harper on the 60-day IL. And Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, who has known Harper and his family since Bryce Harper was a teen, raved about his 30-year-old client’s healing powers during the winter meetings in December shortly after the surgery.
For now that leaves one of the game’s best players working well ahead of schedule to return and sticking firm, if not agonizingly, to the plan. Being smart, as he said so many times Tuesday.
“It does no good for us if I come back and I get hurt right away or somebody tags me the wrong way and I sprain my elbow and I’m out,” he said. “I’ve got to let this thing heal and understand that it’s a major surgery. … It’s a replacement ligament, and I have to let it heal.
“I need to be smart.”
The way things looked Tuesday, the smart money is on the Phillies lineup getting its long-awaited superstar boost a lot sooner than many thought they would.
Gordon Wittenmyer covers Major League Baseball for Sportsnaut. You can follow him on Twitter at @GDubCub.