Bryce Harper's honest thoughts on Phillies' first-round postseason bye
Today at 01:35 PM
After earning a first-round bye with the second-best record in the National League, the Philadelphia Phillies will face off against the New York Mets in the NLDS. Despite earning the bye, many around baseball believe that the team that just played in the Wild Card round has an advantage because of their momentum.
Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper addressed the six days off that his team has had, and explained why he thinks it is an advantage ahead of Game 1 on Saturday to Tim Kelly of Phillies Nation.
“It helped a lot of us, our whole team,” Harper said. “We kind of needed that, I think. That reset, mentally, physically. I thought we had a good week, Monday off, Tuesday workout and then Wednesday we had a pretty good scrimmage as well. Thursday was optional, Friday we came in, took BP.”
“I think a lot of us really needed that week to recover a little bit and get going,” Harper continued. “I feel good mentally, feel good physically, just really excited to get going.”
This is great news for the Phillies that Harper and the rest of the team took full advantage of their days off. Last season, three out of the four teams that earned byes to the Division Series advanced to the Championship Series, sparking debates across baseball about whether or not the postseason format needed to be changed. But, based on what Harper said, it seems like the Phillies were more-than happy to have some time to recover and reset.
Why Bryce Harper and the Philadelphia Phillies needed some extra time off
The biggest reason why Harper especially was happy for time first-round bye was so that he could give his elbow some extra rest. Harper had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in 2022 that forced him to move from the outfield to first base. Harper then re-aggravated his elbow in early-September after he was hit by a pitch, but continued to play through the pain.
This break gave the Harper a chance to rest up and recover so he can be as close to 100% as possible heading into the NLDS.
It also gave the Phillies a chance to use their preferred starting rotation and have a fully-rested bullpen. Now, they can start Zack Wheeler in Game 1, line up Cristopher Sanchez to start at home in Game 2 and have Aaron Nola ready for Game 3 at Citi Field.
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