Philadelphia Phillies star Bryce Harper assured fans his face was fine after being hit by Genesis Cabrera’s pitch, but there are still injury ramifications.
While everyone was focusing on the potential damage to Bryce Harper’s face after being hit by a wild pitch from Genesis Cabrera, it’s something else impacting the Phillies outfielder the most.
Harper is being held out of Philadelphia’s Friday game against the Mets.
It’s not because of his face. It’s his wrist, according to Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Genesis Cabrera’s pitch did more damage to Bryce Harper’s wrist than face
If you watch the footage of the terrifying moment when Harper took a 97-mph fastball to the face, you’ll notice the ball ricocheted off his cheek and onto the underside of his wrist. It had plenty of velocity left to leave a mark.
One of the other players involved in the Cabrera drama will also miss Friday’s game by utter coincidence. Didi Gregorius, the second batter hit by Cabrera, was placed on the COVID-related injury list.
The Phillies and Cardinals finished up their series on Thursday. St. Louis avenged their prior loss with a 4-3 win, while Philadelphia got payback when Hector Neris drilled Nolan Arenado.
Fortunately, both teams have otherwise taken the high road over all this. Harper sent Cabrera a text offering his support. Cardinals manager Mike Shildt shrugged off the “old-school” baseball tit-for-tat on Neris’ HBP.
Even if everything is squared away, the Phillies won’t want Harper to miss many more games. Friday’s absence is a precaution.
Philadelphia is tied for first place in the NL East with a series against the Mets coming up.
St. Louis trails Milwaukee in the NL Central with a road series against the Pirates scheduled to begin on Friday.