Phillies’ Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber show up for work in smart fashion

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper knows himself. And he knows he isn’t alone in knowing himself.

“Obviously, you know the type of player I am and how I go about it,” Harper told a clubhouse media crowd prior to a series opener against the Dodgers Tuesday. “But for the long haul, I just need to play it smart this week.”

Play it smart? Perhaps it was Harper’s way, coming off a 10-day Injured List stay, of saying he was recovered enough to play on this day, but only just good enough.

Top of the lineup power pals Harper and Kyle Schwarber both returned Tuesday from the 10-day IL. They were eligible to return Monday but with the Phillies having an offday, they got a bonus. As for Harper, he openly admitted he needed it.

“I thought the offday yesterday did me good,” he said. “I felt like I was ready to go, but I think I definitely needed the full time. All that (making adjustments) play into it, but it’s also just trying to see the ball and hit the ball and not think too much about (the injury).”

But what he was doing was just that – thinking about it. For Harper did indicate that “playing smart” was something he had to do now. At least for a little while.

“Obviously, I’m going to play smart this week,” he said. “Nothing crazy, I’d imagine, just try to do the best I can to get into the (All-Star) break. But I feel good.”

Speaking of the break, at least seven Phillies are invited to make the All-Star trek to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Despite just coming back from injury, Harper said Tuesday he’s going to take baseball fans up on the invitation they voted for him to receive.

So is that the reason he’ll “play it smart” before then? Or did it have more to do with the anticipation of a series at home against that rich, annoying team from the West Coast voted most likely to play deep into October?

“I think anytime you’re able to come off the (IL) within 10 days, it’s huge,” Harper said. “Obviously that’s a really good team over there, but like I said, we want to play smart, want to do it the right way, and just have a good week.”

Fair enough … but what does “playing smart” mean to him, anyway?

“It’s like, not throwing the cloak on,” said Harper, perhaps an early day Harry Potter fan. “Just understanding what I need to do to stay in the lineup.”

While Harper seemed determined to lighten his load for that night’s game, it only took a couple of innings for him to get a bit nicked. He took a line drive off the base of his first-baseman’s mitt that might not have caught all glove at the time.

Whatever it was, Harper shook it off. He knows that even without your wizard’s cloak on, you can play this game “smart” only so much.

“We haven’t said anything to him but, really in our minds, he can go 100 percent or he wouldn’t be able to play,” manager Rob Thomson said of Harper. “If he’s going to be cautious, I’m OK with that.”

Schwarber and Harper went out on the same night, June 27, in the latter stages of a home loss to the Miami Marlins. Schwarber’s was a relatively mild groin pull, Harper’s a bit more serious of a hamstring. But that injury wasn’t nearly as bad as hamstrings usually are.

“I’ll check in with them every day, obviously, and if they’re good to go in their mind, then I’m going to let them,” Thomson said. “They haven’t been out that long.”

But it didn’t seem to be a coincidence that they were healthy enough to return just in time to face the Dodgers.

“For us, it’s just that we always want to be out there,” said Schwarber, who added that he’s “100%” now. “I take pride in playing as many games as I can. You don’t ever want to wind up on the IL, but obviously coming back and helping the team out, that’s what this is all about.

“It’s just being healthy in general; you want to be as healthy as long as you can. You play so many games that nothing is ever picture perfect. And hopefully it’s kind of like that last little speedbump that we hit, that maybe we can finish this thing out healthy and strong and we’ll see where we go.”

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NOTES >> Phillies starter Zack Wheeler left the game after only five innings with “left lower-back tightness.” … To make room for Schwarber and Harper, outfielder David Dahl was DFA’d, and is expected to go back to Lehigh Valley. Utility guy Kody Clemens was sent back to the IronPigs, with Thomson requesting that club give him more outfield work than he’s had this year. … Though he was afraid of being rusty at first, Schwarber stung the ball in his first two ABs Tuesday, the second going for a two-run single. … Without Harper and Schwarber, and with J.T. Realmuto on the Injured List the whole time, the Phillies went 5-4, averaging nearly four runs a game.