That Balls Outta Here
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Phillies could not afford to lose Bryce Harper for long

By John Town

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 06: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts on the shoulders of Wilson Ramos #40 of the New York Mets after being hit by a pitch in the third inning during a game at Citi Field on September 06, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 06: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies reacts on the shoulders of Wilson Ramos #40 of the New York Mets after being hit by a pitch in the third inning during a game at Citi Field on September 06, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images) /
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Bryce Harper exited Friday night’s game after getting hit by a pitch; the Phillies can’t afford to lose him for long, if at all.

While the Phillies haven’t lived up to expectations this year, they would be a lot worse if they didn’t have Bryce Harper. He leads the team in home runs, runs batted in, and OPS and is the first Philile in eight years to record 100 runs batted in.

Unfortunately, Philadelphia may be without Harper for some time. He exited Friday night’s game after being hit in the hand by a 93 mile-per-hour fastball. The team announced that Harper suffered a hand contusion, but they did not say if he underwent X-rays to check for a more severe injury.

Hopefully, this injury only costs Harper Friday night’s game. If the Phillies were to lose him for any longer, it would put a significant dent in the minuscule playoff hopes the Phillies have left.

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Harper has only missed four games this year: one game for rest at the end of July and three games two weeks ago when his son was born. They are 2-2 in the games he has missed, outscoring their opponents by just one run in those games.

When Harper is in the game, he helps the team win more than almost every player in the league. Among qualified hitters, Harper ranks sixth in win probability added, a metric that cumulatively measures how much a player adds to the team’s chances of winning.

A vital component of this is Harper’s ability to come through in high-pressure situations.

With runners in scoring position, Harper has the fifth-best weighted on-base average, seventh-best OPS, and ninth-best batting average in the league. Also, he ranks third in Fangraphs’ clutch metric, indicating his strong performance when the game is on the line.

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With Philadelphia’s playoff odds sinking by the day, Harper needs to be in the lineup to keep any hopes of October baseball alive.

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