Phillies’ Bryce Harper ‘doing better’ after getting hit in elbow; return to lineup uncertain

A few hours before the start of a long day — and night — at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies’ powder blue throwback jersey was draped over a leather chair in front of Bryce Harper’s locker.

It wouldn’t be worn.

Harper wasn’t in the lineup Thursday for either game of a day-night doubleheader against the Braves, his right elbow bruised and swollen after getting hit by a 95 mph fastball two nights earlier.

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Manager Rob Thomson said Harper “is going to miss a few [more] games, I would think, moving forward,” but doesn’t think he will need to go on the injured list. Harper received treatment from the trainers before Wednesday night’s game got rained out and again Thursday.

“He’s doing better,“ Thomson said. “He still has swelling and is in pain. But it was a lot better than we expected. It’s making progress.”

Harper took a fastball off the elbow from hard-throwing Braves righty Spencer Strider in the first inning Tuesday night. X-rays were negative. The Phillies diagnosed Harper with a bruise. There was no need for additional testing, according to Thomson.

But Harper also has not yet tried to swing a bat. Thomson said he was unavailable off the bench in the doubleheader.

“I wouldn’t put him in a game until he’s comfortable swinging,” Thomson said. “Because he’s going to change his swing.”

Harper was in amid a two-week hot streak at the time of the injury. He’d gone 18-for-47 (.383) with five doubles, one homer, and a .553 slugging percentage in his last 13 games. Overall, he’s batting .267 with eight homers and an .825 OPS.

The Phillies had a good reason for not retaliating Tuesday night after Harper got drilled.

“Because it was not on purpose,” Thomson said. “Simple as that.”

Indeed, Strider has struggled with his command in three starts this season after missing almost all of last year while recovering from elbow surgery.

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Strider removed his cap and appeared concerned while Harper was being assessed on the field. After the game, Strider told reporters that Harper is “one of the best players this century” and “needs to be on the field. It’s best for the game.”

“If I think somebody’s throwing at one of our hitters, I don’t know what I’d do,” Thomson said. “But if it’s a pitch that gets away from a pitcher, which I believe it was, and I think that everybody in our clubhouse thinks it was, that’s baseball. It happens.”

Andrew Painter allowed two runs in five innings for triple-A Lehigh Valley in the first game of a doubleheader in Norfolk, Va. The 22-year-old top prospect threw 81 pitches and touched 99.5 mph.

Painter has a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings over four triple-A starts. He has logged 28⅓ innings overall between Lehigh Valley and low-A Clearwater.

The Phillies have said they expect Painter to make his major league debut by “July-ish,” according to president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, a timeline that Thomson said hasn’t changed.

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Aaron Nola tested his sprained right ankle by throwing a 26-pitch bullpen session between games of the doubleheader and “felt good,” according to the report Thomson received from pitching coach Caleb Cotham. Nola is eligible to be reinstated from the injured list Friday but is expected to make at least one minor league start before rejoining the Phillies’ rotation. … With a solo homer in the seventh inning of the opener, Kyle Schwarber became the first Phillies player to hit 10 homers in May since Domonic Brown in 2013. Schwarber leads the team with 19 homers. … Trea Turner’s 35 hits this month are the most in May by a Phillies player since Shane Victorino had 36 in 2009. … The Phillies recalled righty reliever Brett de Geus from triple A to be the extra player for the doubleheader. Claimed off waivers from the Marlins on April 1, de Geus has a 0.95 ERA in 13 appearances for Lehigh Valley. He’s scheduled to be sent back to the minors after the doubleheader. … Taijuan Walker (2-3, 2.97 ERA) will start the series opener against the Brewers at 6:45 p.m. Friday. He’s slated to be opposed by Milwaukee righty Quinn Priester (1-2, 4.23).