Bryce Harper: Return to the Phillies lineup next week is ‘definitely in play’

ATLANTA — Let’s say you told Bryce Harper three weeks ago that he could be back in the Phillies lineup by the Fourth of July.

“I would have said you’re kind of crazy,” he said.

And now?

“I think next week is definitely in play,” Harper said.

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Harper tested his sore right wrist Friday by hitting on the field before batting practice. He’s scheduled to face live pitching Saturday. The Phillies even flew triple-A righty Joel Kuhnel and double-A righty Jack Dallas to Atlanta to face him.

Could he play Monday at home against the Padres?

“I don’t want to solidify which day or anything like that, but I feel good,” Harper said. “I’m happy.”

When the Phillies put Harper on the injured list June 7 in Pittsburgh, he said the pain near the lunate bone at the top of his wrist had gotten so bad that he “can’t really function on a baseball field.” It was the recurrence of an injury that hampered him last season but went away with offseason rest. The Phillies characterized it as “inflammation.”

Last week, Harper said multiple doctors “haven’t really gotten too many answers” about why the problem came back early in the season. But he said he was assured that he won’t need surgery.

Harper said the discomfort hasn’t subsided entirely — “just some aches,” he said — but it’s “not anywhere close to where I was three weeks ago.” He likely will need to manage the problem throughout the second half of the season based on how his wrist feels.

“I haven’t swelled up or felt any inflammation or strong pain in there, and I can’t really tell the difference between workout pain or actual pain,” Harper said. “When it was hurting me really bad, I don’t feel it at all in that spot.

“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.”

One thing Harper won’t do is swing with any less force.

“I don’t want to manipulate my swing at all,” Harper said. “If I have to manipulate my swing in any way, I shouldn’t be out there playing. I don’t think it’s conducive to me or my team or anybody else to switch the way I’m doing things on a baseball field to maybe play at 70 percent. I want to play at the highest level that I can.”

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Perhaps the final test before he returns to the lineup will come against Kuhnel and Dallas, who get to spend the weekend around the major league team.

“I’m way farther ahead than I felt like I would be,” Harper said. “Definitely way healthier than I was a couple of weeks ago and before that.”