They’ve gone through it, and are amazed by Bryce Harper’s speedy return: ‘He’s a different breed’

How unprecedented is Harper’s warp-speed recovery from Tommy John surgery? Carl Crawford and Luis Gonzalez know, and one has advice for the Phillies star.

From left, Carl Crawford, Bryce Harper, and Luis GonzalezRead moreAP, Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published May 5, 2023, 2:59 p.m. ET

Bryce Harper arrived at spring training on March 9 and stayed with the Phillies every day thereafter. There was no clandestine rehab program carried out on a remote field at a minor league complex in some far-flung location. Every move he made, every step he took happened in public.

And like Sting, Luis Gonzalez was watching.

“Oh, absolutely. The whole time,” the former All-Star outfielder and 2001 World Series hero said by phone this week. “Yeah. Because I’ve gone through it.”

It still isn’t a big club. The community of baseball players with the crescent-shaped scar on the inside of their elbow — the mark of a reconstructed ligament — comprises mostly pitchers. Independent researcher Jon Roegele tracks instances of “Tommy John surgery,” as it has become known colloquially, and his database shows only 73 outfielders, 20 of whom were in the majors at the time.

Harper underwent the procedure on Nov. 23. He was back in the Phillies lineup 160 days later, Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. It’s common for position players to return in nearly half the time as pitchers (Phillies lefty Matt Strahm said this week that he “hadn’t even picked up a baseball yet” five months after surgery), but, well, this was fast, even by that standard.

How fast? Think of Usain Bolt’s 100-meter world record. Because Harper left everyone else in the dust.

Former infielder Tony Womack held the distinction of the quickest recorded return, 182 days from operating table to a major league game in 2005, according to Roegele’s data. Harper beat that by ... (checks notes) ... three weeks!

OK, to be fair, Harper had advantages, chiefly being able to return to a designated hitter role that didn’t exist in the National League until last year. He also skipped the minor league tune-up that often completes the process of coming back from these things. And because he had the surgery in November, as opposed to last summer, he was able to return after the season was underway.

So, how unprecedented is Harper’s warp-speed return? In search of perspective, The Inquirer tracked down two Tommy John-surviving former outfielders, both of whom admitted they’ve been keeping tabs on Harper’s progress.

“He’s a different breed, man,” Gonzalez said. “He’s not the norm.”

Said Carl Crawford, a four-time All-Star in 15 seasons with the Rays, Red Sox, and Dodgers: “Shoot, that was fast. You know them East Coast teams, man, they don’t play. You’ve got to get back, you know what I’m saying?”

Crawford laughed. Aside from shakes of the head, laughter is the most common reaction to what Harper has done.

Gonzo: ‘One of the elite’

Gonzalez was 36, but still at the peak of his late-blooming career, when he tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow early in the 2004 season. But he missed a total of 47 games in the previous seven years, so his first impulse was to play through it.

One problem: Throws from left field were becoming increasingly difficult, and DH’ing wasn’t an option.

“I was in excruciating pain every night,” Gonzalez said. “I would have to hold my arm up in the hot shower. But we had a young team, and I was trying to be that veteran presence in the middle of the order.”

With the Diamondbacks headed for a 111-loss season, Gonzalez had surgery on Aug. 1, 2004. He couldn’t recall specific mileposts in his recovery, such as the first time he swung a bat or played catch. But he noted there was little point to initiating the former before the latter because returning to play would require both.

(By comparison, Harper got cleared to take “dry swings” — no contact with a ball — on Feb. 23 and was weeks into facing live pitching before he played catch for the first time on April 20.)

Once Gonzalez reported to spring training in 2005, he no longer had elbow pain nor restrictions on baseball activities. He DH’d in the Diamondbacks’ second spring training game, on March 4, then played left field for the first time four days later, 219 days after surgery.

“For me, the biggest hurdle was the mental hurdle of being able to throw that ball for the first time in the outfield when it’s hit to you,” said Gonzalez, now a senior adviser for the Diamondbacks. “Hitting was a lot easier. I felt like the throwing part was going to be more of a struggle, putting that strain on it and trying to cut loose.”

But Gonzalez never assumed Harper would get back more quickly — at least not this quickly — even if he could DH because of the ferocity of his swing.

“With Bryce, he doesn’t get cheated,” Gonzalez said. “I had a flat swing in the zone, tried to get the barrel out and stuff. I could flip a ball in the outfield and not take a full swing. He’s got a nice swing, but it’s more of a violent swing.”

Gonzalez was watching Tuesday night when Harper went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, two of which came against Dodgers ace lefty Julio Urías, who attacked Harper with his signature breaking pitch. Like everyone, Gonzalez thought, “Oh boy, maybe he’s not ready?”

A day later, Harper went 3-for-3 with two walks.

“And you’re like, ‘Oh, he’s back,’” Gonzalez said. “Sometimes for a left-handed hitter, facing a good left-hander locks you in. He’s just one of the elite players in the game. He’s got confidence. He plays with swagger. He’s a guy that everybody is mesmerized by.”

Gonzalez will see it firsthand in a few weeks. He’s making the trip to Citizens Bank Park with the Diamondbacks on May 22-24.

“He’s one of those guys everybody wants to see because they’re intrigued with him, man,” Gonzalez said. “I’m very intrigued with him because I went through the same thing.”

Crawford: ‘Just be careful’

Crawford tore his elbow ligament in spring training of 2012 with the Red Sox. After months of trying to play through it, he finally saw James Andrews, the preeminent orthopedist at the time, and underwent Tommy John surgery on Aug. 23, 2012.

Two days later, Crawford got traded.

In addition, then, to the physical challenges of returning to play, Crawford had to work with a new group of doctors and athletic trainers with the Dodgers. And still, he made it back to DH in a spring training game on March 17, 2013, and play left field six days after that — 212 days after surgery.

“People said I got back fast, but it wasn’t like I felt rushed,” Crawford said by phone from Houston, where he owns a record label, 1501 Certified Entertainment. “I got traded, and they sent me straight to the Dodgers staff. I got along real well with those guys. I never did go against the grain or say I don’t want to do this or do that. I just did what they said.”

Like Gonzalez, Crawford couldn’t take advantage of DH’ing in the regular season. He said he’s not sure it would have made much of a difference, although he did have to learn better throwing mechanics. The root of the damaged ligament, according to what Red Sox and Dodgers personnel told him, was that he didn’t throw the ball properly from the outfield.

Crawford has also followed along with Harper’s rehab, in part because he’s now a member of the Phillies’ extended family. His 19-year-old son, Justin, was drafted in the first round last year and was batting .328/.394/.406 with 10 stolen bases through Thursday as the center fielder at low-A Clearwater.

Last summer, when Justin came to Citizens Bank Park after signing for $3.894 million, Harper gave him some good-natured grief about wearing No. 3 in high school.

“I think Justin had No. 3 on, so [Harper] was teasing him about that,” Crawford said, laughing. “He poked at him a little bit. It was all good.”

Crawford knows, then, that Harper has been taking grounders at first base, a potential position switch that would enable Alec Bohm to return to his natural third base and free up more DH at-bats for Kyle Schwarber, who hasn’t moved well in left field.

The Phillies haven’t set a timeline for when Harper may be cleared to play defense. It could still be “several months,” manager Rob Thomson said, before he completes a throwing program.

Crawford’s advice: Don’t rush it.

“Once they build up his arm strength, he might love it there [at first base],” Crawford said. “He won’t have to worry about throwing that ball all the way to home plate. He’s going to want to get out there quick because he’s going to want to help the team. But for God’s sake, just be careful. Just do the rehab stuff however they put it and just kind of go with the scheme of things.”

Things just tend to go a little more quickly for Harper.