Bryce Harper Isn't Human, On Track To Make The Fastest Return From Tommy John Surgery In Baseball History
Rich Schultz. Getty Images.The Athletic -- Bryce Harper has defied every conventional timeline while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and now the process has reached its tipping point. Harper will see a doctor Monday morning in Los Angeles. If he is cleared, he is expected to return to the Phillies’ lineup as the designated hitter Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium — a mere 160 days following the surgery to reconstruct his right elbow.
“He’s pretty geeked up about getting out there and playing,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s itching.”
Harper is returning only as a hitter, and that’s allowing him to author one of the quickest comebacks from Tommy John surgery ever recorded.
When it first came out that Bryce Harper would be undergoing Tommy John surgery in the offseason, a lot of people just assumed the Phillies would need to make the playoffs again before we saw Harper return to the lineup. Then as we got closer to the surgery date, that timetable started to seem more like the Phillies would just need to hold on until the All-Star Break before they got their guy back.
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And now here we are. 159 days since Harper's surgery. Just over 5 months ago. The calendar just flipped over to May and Bryce Harper could legitimately get himself back in the lineup this week.
What a freak. What a mutant. There's not a chance in hell this dude is human. The fastest Tommy John surgery recovery known to man. Obviously just being able to come back as a hitter and not needing to throw the ball for another couple of months helps. But you're out of your damn mind if you think Bryce Harper isn't trying as hard as he possibly can to get back in the field, too. I bet he's on 1st by the end of the month. That way he can let Alec Bohm get back to just focus on playing 3rd where he's comfortable. That selfless son of a bitch Bryce Harper is always putting the team before himself.
Whether it's Tuesday or he waits until the Phils come back home for the Boston series or whatever. The fact of the matter is that this sick bastard is about to come back from Tommy John at least 2 months ahead of schedule. We thought we'd have to sweat our tits off at CBP watching a Phillies team without Bryce Harper for the majority of the summer. Turns out this mutant will be back way before Memorial Day.
Shoutout to Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Shoutout to Bryce Harper's insane ligaments. And shoutout to all of us for being alive to witness humanity's first contact with an alien. No wonder Bryce Harper is always launching balls into orbit. He's just trying to send that shit back home.
P.S. -- 7-3 in their last 10. Turns out the season wasn't completely over after the first two weeks after all….