HARPER SAYS THUMB IS ’85-90%’ — COULD BE BACK WITH PHILS SEPT 1

By Tom Scott

Bryce Harper broke his left thumb on June 25,  and he said to day that it is about 85=90 and that he hopes to return around Sept. 1, when the Phillies are on a six-game road trip in Arizona and San Francisco.

“It’s always a goal to have in mind, where you want to be and what you want to do,” Harper said. “But we don’t know until I play. We can all talk about when and where, but we just don’t know until I play and how I feel with contact and things like that.

“I’m going to be smart with it. I’m going to be very smart with it and come back when I see fit and when my hand is feeling better and I can help this team every day and not just play two days, one day off, play two days, one day off. I’m going to come back at full strength playing.”

Harper said he expects to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday or Wednesday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Harper said, “It’s going to be touch and feel because, I mean, I’m not really sure how it’s going to feel after I make contact, things like that. BP, machine, it all feels good, but you just never know until you get in the game.”

Harper said his thumb has responded well since he started to take BP last week.

“I’m getting a lot better,” he said. “The more I hit, the more I use it, it’s getting better. I think we’re happy where we’re at right now. We’ll just progress as we see fit.”

“Probably anywhere from 85-90 percent right now, I would imagine,” Harper said about the thumb. “I think our biggest thing is the [mobility] of it, I guess, isn’t there. That’s why I say 85, somewhere in there, just because of the [mobility] part of it. But I think the strength and everything like that is there. I think as we progress it’s going to get better and better, I hope.”