Bryce Harper Is Day-To-Day With a Mild Hamstring Strain

WaPo - Bryce Harper limped out of Thursday night’s game against the Rays after planting awkwardly on his left knee while making a throw in the sixth inning. Manager Matt Williams said the team diagnosed him with a mild left hamstring strain, a diagnosis Harper said he considered a relief. In the sixth inning, with the Nationals leading, 3-2, and runners on first and second, Rays shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera singled to right field. Harper charged and tried to fire home, but slipped on the wet turf. He said his right knee gave out, which required him to put all his weight on his left knee, which bent deep under the weight. “Got my hamstring — lower hamstring into the knee a little bit,” Harper said. “But it didn’t feel very good. Was in pretty good pain. Was a little scared at the same time because I could feel a little more on the lower half of it. But see how I am tomorrow and go from there. ” Harper did not rule out playing Friday, though that seems unlikely. He emphasized the need to be smart with the injury. The Nationals hope it does not require more than a few days’ rest: Harper leads the team with a .344 average to go with his 22 home runs, 53 runs batted in and 53 walks.

There we go, every Nats fan’s worst nightmare. When he went down and held his leg like that last night, everyone was pretty sure the season was over. The Nats fucking suck right now with him, without him would be an absolute nightmare. So the good news is it’s just a mild strain and he’s day-to-day, the bad news is that while he’s day-to-day that leaves the Nats with 1 guy in the lineup who can actually hit. Shouts to Yunel Escobar who now has three five-hit games this year. Truly impressive season so far from Yuni. But besides him and Harper, the lack of production from the lineup has been a bit concerning. Denard Span is the only other person who can get on base consistently. The Nats situational hitting is absolute garbage. And Ian Desmond can get the fuck off this team. He now has 95 errors through the first 60-something games. To say he’s a bad fielder would be like saying anchovies are a bad pizza topping- understatements of the century. Add in the fact he’s hitting only .224 with 1 stolen base (he’s had 20+ in the last 4 seasons) and it makes you wonder how much longer until Trea Turner gets a call. Perhaps they can move Desmond for a bullpen arm, that would be best-case scenario.

The 39-27 Bucs come to town this weekend, which could be a potential disaster. Matt Williams called out the entire roster yesterday, saying everyone needs to step their shit up. I guess we will see how they respond.