UTK Flash 11/24/22

Harper Has Tommy John

Bryce Harper had Tommy John surgery earlier this week, performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache in Los Angeles. He’ll begin rehab immediately, likely to be handled at both the Kerlan-Jobe Clinic and at the Boras Institute, just south in Orange County, where Harper regularly trains in the off season.

Early speculation is that Harper will miss the first half of the season. In an uncredited ESPN story, they say “The Phillies said Harper is expected to return as a hitter only by the All-Star break and could return to playing right field by the end of the regular season.”

This would surprise me. Most position players can come back in less than nine months, often at the six or seven month mark. The shortest noted was Tony Womack, in six, with Jay Buhner, Carl Crawford, and Didi Gregorius coming back in eight. The Gregorius comp might be interesting, since many think his elbow was the reason he had a down season, but there’s no evidence of that.

You’ll also note that most of those were in the 2000’s. Rehabs with all players have gotten significantly more conservative, even with better surgical and rehab techniques. There’s no increase in success rates or failure rates with this extension, so there’s no good reason it should be like this. Extending Harper, who could DH once the anchors are set, is a loss to the Phillies, though it does give them some roster flexibility.

ElAttrache is one of the best surgeons around - a Hall of Fame worthy sports doctor - but his choice was interesting in that he’s not known for doing the Internal Brace technique, though he certainly could. In fact, it was at Dr. ElAttrache’s conference where I first heard of the procedure and there has been extensive work by other doctors at Kerlan-Jobe. We can safely assume it wasn’t appropriate for Harper, which does imply a significant sprain.

I still believe Harper can be back at the low end of the range. He’s in great shape, he has the right people around him, and he has the DH spot available. While I can’t see him back in the field until the end of the season, if at all if the Phillies are conservative, he’s shown he can hit at the highest level. For now, the Phillies are going to have to show they can stay in the playoff race without him.

I wish all of you a Happy Thanksgiving. At the risk of being cheesy, I am thankful for every one of you (especially the subscribers!)