Phillies' Bryce Harper continues to make strong case for NL MVP

Trailing 7-0 after three innings against the Cubs on Thursday, the Phillies ended up rolling to a 17-8 blowout win.  Several players contributed to the offensive explosion, but Bryce Harper again had a big game, walking twice and going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a three-run homer.  Harper is now batting .314/.428/.627 with 33 home runs over 532 plate appearances, and he already entered Thursday’s action with the highest fWAR (5.9) of any National League player.  

While Fernando Tatis Jr. and Trea Turner may have something to say about the NL MVP race over the last few weeks of the season, Harper is making a strong case for the second MVP Award of his career.

Of course, Harper’s case will be helped if he can sneak the Phillies into the playoffs.  Thursday’s win brought Philadelphia three games behind the Braves in the NL East, and 2.5 games behind the Cardinals in the very crowded race for the second NL wild-card spot.

The latest from Philly….

• “It’s been frustrating basically the whole year with what’s going on,” Didi Gregorius told Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer, as the shortstop said a misdiagnosed elbow injury and then lingering elbow soreness have led to his underwhelming performance.  Gregorius spent more than six weeks of the season on the injured list due to a form of arthritis in his right elbow known as pseudogout, but he was initially listed as having only an elbow impingement, and the pseudogout diagnosis wasn’t known until Gregorius had already missed around three weeks.  Even after returning from the IL on July 2, the Phillies shortstop said he continues to feel lingering soreness in his elbow.  Gregorius said his personal doctor felt that a COVID-19 vaccine could be responsible for the elbow issues, as Gregorius said the soreness developed shortly after he was vaccinated in late April.  However, Gregorius also noted that his doctor “didn’t give me like 100%” certainty that the vaccine was the cause, and Breen quotes two other medical experts who state that there was little to no evidence that vaccination would lead to gout or pseudogout, and certainly not a case that continues to linger for months.  (Breen writes that the Phillies “declined to comment on Gregorius’ claim about the vaccine.”)  Gregorius’ own doctors have recommended an arthroscopic procedure to fix his elbow once and for all, but somewhat curiously, Gregorius hasn’t yet discussed offseason treatment plans with the Phillies or their medical staff.  Gregorius came into Thursday’s action hitting only .217/.276/.377 over 351 plate appearances.
• In another COVID-related item, the Phillies announced that 85% of players and staff at the big league and Triple-A levels have been fully vaccinated.  This meets the league threshold for relaxed coronavirus protocols, such as less social distancing within the clubhouse and fewer travel restrictions.  The exact number of MLB teams to meet the 85% threshold isn’t officially known, but the Phils are known to be one of the last teams to reach that number.
• Hector Neris is a free agent this winter, but “I have been available all the time” for a potential reunion with the Phillies, the reliever tells The Athletic’s Matt Gelb.  The struggling Phils bullpen figures to undergo a major overhaul, so re-signing Neris could be a possibility just because he has pitched well on the whole this year, if not well enough to keep his job as closer back in June.  Neris has posted a very strong 31.4% strikeout rate but a below-average 9.5% walk rate while posting a 3.39 ERA over 63 2/3 innings.  Neris is open about pitching in any bullpen role with his next team, saying “You have to try to help the team where you are….If you are flexible, if you are a guy a team can use everywhere, you are more valuable.”