Bryce

Harper

Harper’s lone hit went down as a liner to Padres catcher Felix Fermin in the scorebook -- he hit it off Padres LHP Adrian Morejon. Harper came around to score on an Alex Bohm single, and was also robbed in the first inning by Bryce Johnston near the foul line. Hitting .259 with an .872 OPS, Harper has rebounded well from a bit of a production dip last year.

Harper put the Phillies on the board early, taking Randy Vásquez deep for a solo homer in the first inning. He’d reach two more times via walk, scoring on a base hit in the third. The 33-year-old first baseman is having an excellent season, hitting .272/.367/.533 with 13 homers, 33 runs scored, 33 RBI, and four steals across 229 plate appearances.

Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber combined to go 0-for-8 ahead of him, so Harper didn’t drive in any runs today. He did pick up his fourth stolen base, though. Harper has six three-hit games this year, and he’s currently in the mid-140s in OPS+, which is right where he finished in 2022 (146), 2023 (145) and 2024 (146) before slipping to 129 last year.

Harper tagged Pirates’ ace Paul Skenes for a 403-foot (103.7 mph EV) solo shot in the sixth inning of this one, extending the Phillies’ lead to 3-0. That would be his lone hit on the afternoon. For the season, the 33-year-old slugger is slashing .282/.376/.559 with 12 homers and 30 RBI.

Harper put the Phillies on the board right away with a three-run blast off Bubba Chandler in the first inning, continuing a hot May with his fifth homer in the month and 11th of the season. The 33-year-old first baseman is hitting 283/.378/.548 with 27 runs scored and 29 RBI across 193 plate appearances.

Not often you go 4-for-5 and get outshined by a teammate, but here we are. With the Phillies staked to an early 6-0 hole, Harper plinked three singles into the shallow outfield before unleashing a 388-foot ‘single’ off the top of the right-center field wall off Gregory Soto that tied the game in the top of the ninth. The 33-year-old superstar is now hitting .282/.372/.534 in his first 34 games of the year, with 10 homers and two stolen bases.

Harper went 1-for-4 in the contest, and, with nearly as many walks (23) as strikeouts (26), he’s now batting .281/.376/.562 for the season. The star first baseman exited Saturday’s game in the first inning due to a migraine and showed no ill effects by homering in his first game back. It was part of a back-to-back effort alongside Kyle Schwarber in the first. Harper and the Phillies will visit the Red Sox at Fenway Park, kicking off a three-game set on Tuesday.

Harper was lifted from Saturday’s game in the first inning due to a migraine, but he’s feeling much improved and ready to get right back out there. The 33-year-old slugger will start at first base and bat third against Rockies’ right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano on Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.

Harper was pulled from Saturday’s contest in the first inning due to the sudden onset of a migraine. It sounds like it’s just an isolated issue though and Phillies’ skipper Don Mattingly expects Harper to be in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale against the Rockies.

Felix Reyes replaced him after a half-inning in the field. Harper probably won’t miss any additional time with the ailment.