Bryce Harper on Saturday saw the pitch flying toward his face, so he quickly turned his head and raised his left hand to protect himself. Turns out, the Philadelphia Phillies slugger would rather he had not.
Harper is to be sidelined indefinitely with a broken left thumb after he was hit by a pitch from Blake Snell in Philadelphia’s 4-2 victory over the San Diego Padres.
“I kind of wish it hit me in the face,” said Harper, who was wearing a splint on his thumb. “I don’t break bones in my face. I think I can take 98[mph, 158kph] to the face, but not 97 to the thumb. Yeah, I was kind of in protection mode a little bit trying to get my hand up there and not let it hit me again.”
Photo: AFP
“It’s just a bummer. I am really bummed out,” he added.
The reigning National League Most Valuable Player, who missed only a few games last year when he was hit in the face by a fastball from the St Louis Cardinals’ Genesis Cabrera, checked his swing as the 97mph fastball from Snell rode inside and high toward his shoulder before hitting him on the outside of the left hand in the fourth inning.
Harper immediately fell to the ground and was in visible pain as he held his hand while on his knees for several minutes with Phillies head trainer Paul Buchheit attending to him.
As Harper was halfway to Philadelphia’s dugout, he appeared to angrily yell at Snell and motioned with his hand.
“It wasn’t heated at all,” Harper said afterward. “It was just the moment and a crappy situation. I’ve been playing against Blake since we were 10, 11 years old so I know there was no ill-will behind that at all.”
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