Bryce Harper out of Phillies lineup for nightcap against Padres: ‘I don’t want to push it,’ Thomson says

Last year, Bryce Harper played through right wrist pain that didn’t go away until December. It recurred a few months into this season and recently sidelined him for 3½ weeks.

It’s probably not the greatest idea, then, for him to play 18 innings in one day.

So, although Harper “seemed to be fine,” based on a report that manager Rob Thomson got from the trainer’s room after the matinee portion of Wednesday’s doubleheader, the Phillies kept him out of the lineup for the nightcap.

“I don’t want to push it,” Thomson said between games.

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Harper went 1-for-4 in the opener, a 6-4 loss to the Padres and his second game back from the injured list. He took 10 swings in four at-bats, fouling off five pitches in addition to a first-inning single and a fly out to left field.

Over the last few weeks, Harper has been candid about the likelihood that he might need to manage his workload to keep his wrist healthy, although he’s unsure about what that will involve.

“I don’t know, right?” Harper said last weekend in Atlanta. “I think it’s going to take us some time of playing and seeing kind of where I’m at. I don’t know until I’m there, so as I go, obviously you guys [in the media] will know and see what I’m doing. But the thought and the hope is that I don’t feel it, right?

“We’ve done a really good job of coming up with a plan in the training room of certain things that I can get better at to hopefully take the pain off of that area. There’s a lot of things that we’ve been working on that have helped alleviate that pain in my wrist, and I think that’s working. So, I’m hoping to keep that going.”

Aaron Nola’s long road back from injuries could reach an important stage this weekend, with the Phillies hoping he will be able to throw from a bullpen mound.

Nola hasn’t pitched since May 14 due to multiple injuries. Initially sidelined by a sprained right ankle, he sustained a stress fracture of a right rib last month.

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The Phillies transferred Nola to the 60-day injured list, leaving him eligible to return after the All-Star break. But the protracted absence will necessitate a longer buildup, similar to spring training.

“I’d say pretty close, yeah,” Thomson said. “He’s starting over, really.”

The Phillies recalled reliever Seth Johnson from triple A to be the 27th player for the doubleheader.

He might have made the most of his opportunity.

Johnson, a hard-throwing righty who was converted from a starter to a reliever early in the season, tossed two spotless innings in the first game, touching 99 mph with his fastball and getting three swings and misses with his slider.

“He was really good,” Thomson said. “Really good throwing strikes. He broke out the curveball, and it’s sharp.”

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Could Johnson get a longer look out of the Phillies’ bullpen?

“There’s a lot of things we have to talk about,” Thomson said.

Thomson on Brandon Marsh’s poor baserunning decision to try going from first to third on Trea Turner’s single with two out in the ninth inning of the first game: “Marshy just assumed that the center fielder was going to throw the ball into second base to keep the tying run out of scoring position. But you can’t assume anything.” Marsh appeared to get tagged out at third base to end the game but was bailed out when a replay review overturned the call on the field. ... After a day off, Jesús Luzardo (7-4, 4.06 ERA) is scheduled to start a holiday matinee at 1:05 p.m. Friday against Reds lefty Andrew Abbott (7-1, 1.79).