Bryce Harper and Jordan Romano were killing the Phillies until Harper broke out in San Francisco

As they slide into the second half of a make-or-break season, the Phillies recently faced a disturbing question: Who’s hurting them more, injured slugger Bryce Harper or eccentric closer Jordan Romano?

It’s irrelevant, to a degree, because the Phillies will need both their highest-paid slugger to slug and their highest-paid reliever to relieve if they hope to remain relevant through August and September and make noise in October.

 After Harper tapped the Giants on Wednesday for a season-high four hits — all for extra bases, a career best — it clearly is Romano, the reliever who gets no relief.

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When a hitter is ineffective, while he does no good, he generally does no harm. However, when a pitcher is ineffective — especially a late-innings, high-leverage relief pitcher — he loses the game.

That’s what happened June 28 in Atlanta, when Romano gave up a grand slam in the seventh inning of a one-run game to a light-hitting catcher. That’s what happened Tuesday in San Francisco, when Romano lost the game on a walk-off, three-run, inside-the-park homer, the first inside-the-park walk-off homer by a catcher in 99 years. Also, a light-hitting catcher.

Maybe he should just stop pitching to light-hitting catchers.

The reality is the Phillies are stuck with both of them. They won’t trade or bench Harper, of course. They simply can’t trade or cut Romano, because José Alvarado is suspended, because Romano remains a better option than Joe Ross, because Matt Strahm is running on fumes, and because Orion Kerkering can’t pitch every day.

Maybe blame manager Rob Thomson for asking Romano to get five outs for the first time in more than three years. Romano relieved waiver-claim Daniel Robert, who left two on with one out in the eighth and a two-run lead. Thomson’s other options were garbage man Ross and rookie Seth Johnson, since most of the bullpen had been burned earlier — in the wake of Mick Abel’s demotion, it was a bullpen start by Taijuan Walker — or had been burned in Monday’s loss.

At any rate, Romano — who, just before leaving the bullpen, dumped a bottle of water over his head and body on a 60-degree night — escaped the eighth, but put runners on the corners with one out in the ninth.

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Then Patrick Bailey drove a ball 414 feet that caromed wildly off the brick outcropping in right-center field at Oracle Park, a feature designed to produce unusual moments. No one could have predicted that a lead-legged catcher hitting under .200 with no power and who had never hit an inside-the-park homer at any level would end things quite this way, but that’s the way Romano’s comeback season has gone: usually hot, too often cold.

Romano had 97 saves and a 2.29 ERA in 199 games from 2020 to 2023 with the Blue Jays before elbow surgery sabotaged his 2024 season, which is why the Phillies could sign him for $8.5 million. Often, he pitches to that salary.

However, when he misses with a couple of pitches in a row, he starts to guide his pitches. This diminishes the degree and sharpness of their movement and decreases their velocity, which too often hangs them over the middle of the plate. In other words, when Romano can’t hit the corners, he throws meatballs.

On June 28 in Atlanta, after his teammates had seen some shaky sliders, Sean Murphy clobbered a hanging, meatball slider.

Tuesday night in San Francisco, Bailey demolished a first-pitch, 93.9 mph, meatball fastball. Romano generally throws about 96.

“I’m definitely being tested a lot this year for sure, just not pitching well,” Romano told reporters Tuesday.

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Well, he’s not pitching consistently, anyway. His first 11 games were pedestrian appearances punctuated by four disasters, but his next 12 games were All-Star-caliber. He hit a three-game skid, then went six straight without allowing a run or an inherited run. Then, the slam. Now, the walk-off.

Harper, on the other hand, looks promising. It took a large magnifying glass to see promising in a 4-for-24 performance through his first seven games off the injured list, when he missed 22 games with an elbow bruised by a pitch and a chronic wrist issue, but you know me: Mr. Glass Half Full.

Besides, any Harper is good Harper.

For one thing, assuming his wrist is about 75% as strong as it usually is, and assuming it won’t get any worse and doesn’t worsen throughout the game, Harper at 75% is as dangerous as 75% of the rest of the league at 110%.

For another thing, part of Harper’s genius lies in working counts and recognizing the strike zone. His last at-bat Tuesday was an excellent example of this; he worked a 1-2 count into an eight-pitch walk. He has walked five times in seven games since his return. He also had an at-bat in Monday’s loss in which fading, 69-year-old umpire Phil Cuzzi essentially wrote his own retirement letter.

Afterward, Harper said, “I felt comfortable. … The umpire took over the game.”

Harper took over the game Wednesday. The homer was his first since June 3 and just his second since May 10. He now has 10, a significant power drop independent of the missed time.

The at-bats Monday and Tuesday and the power surge Wednesday validated the decision to not send Harper out on a rehab assignment. He would not have seen the quality of pitches at Lehigh Valley he needed to see, even if it might’ve helped him regain his timing a bit faster.

The fact that the Phillies remain in first place in the NL East despite the struggles of their money men is a testament to Thomson’s brilliance as a manager and president Dave Dombrowski’s roster, which has proven deep and effective without Aaron Nola, the No. 2 starter, or Alvarado, the No. 1 reliever, but with Harper missing 30% of their games and Romano’s periodic implosions.

But roster depth, lineup massage, and bullpen juggling can’t overcome the fact that the closer and the slugger are going to have to close and slug if the Phillies plan to atone for their sins of the past two autumns.