Washington Nationals: Bryce Harper suffers knee injury in Saturday’s game
By Anthony Sosa
A scary scenario took place during the first inning of the San Francisco Giants and Washington Nationals’ game when Nationals’ star outfielder Bryce Harper suffered a knee injury running through first base.
In the bottom of the first inning of Saturday’s game between the Nationals and Giants, Bryce Harper hit a ground ball to first base and raced to the bag trying to beat Giants’ Ryder Jones there. Harper slipped on the bag and his leg stretched out in an awkward position, landing hard and remaining on the ground. Harper needed help off the field and appeared unable to put pressure on his leg.
Due to a rain delay, the 7:05 p.m. EST start time didn’t occur until 10:06 p.m. EST. The wet conditions look like the culprit for Harper’s tumble at first base.
Giants’ reporter Alex Pavlovic tweeted out a video that showed what happened to Harper on the play.
Harper slipped on the bag, had to be helped off field. It's been raining the entire night: pic.twitter.com/O8HSQc0sMk
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) August 13, 2017
The Giants and Nationals also had their Friday night game delayed. They postponed that game and moved it to Sunday as part of a doubleheader. With the rainout on Friday and the Giants not returning to Washington D.C. in 2017, Saturday’s game was a must for the two teams.
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But with the nasty weather, poor field conditions were inevitable. None more obvious than the slippery bags in play. Due to the field conditions, the Nationals lost their top player. Harper is certainly someone the Nationals need in order to compete in October.
Although the Nationals hold a strong 14-game lead in the NL East and look locked to win the division, the playoffs are no easy task, especially without Harper.
Harper, an All-Star in 2017, is having a bounce-back season after some regression last season. This season, Harper’s hitting .327/.420/.616 with 29 home runs, 87 RBI and 92 runs scored. Harper ranks fourth on the Nationals in bWAR at 4.6. He ranks first in home runs, RBI, hits, OBP, slugging percentage, OPS and OPS-plus.
Nationals’ manager Dusty Baker announced after the game that Harper hyper-extended his knee and will undergo an MRI, according to MLB.com reporter Jamal Collier.
MASN reporter Dan Kolko tweeted a positive message for the Nationals and their fans after the game about Harper.
Bryce Harper is up and walking around without much of a limp. Had his leg wrapped below the knee but no brace or anything.
— Dan Kolko (@masnKolko) August 13, 2017
Next: Masahiro Tanaka to the DL
Taking a bat like Harper’s out of the lineup makes the Nationals a lot weaker. Although the club possesses many weapons on the offensive side (Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rendon, Ryan Zimmerman), losing Harper hurts them significantly. If the injury is serious, that could also take a mental hit to the Nationals’ club, or fuel their fire during Harper’s absence.