PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Bryce Harper prides himself on playing through pain, but even the Phillies slugger has his limits.
Harper was sidelined late last season with a back injury, and his absence was felt as the Phillies fell short of making the playoffs. Harper did all he could to get back in the lineup but was finally forced to sit out several games.
"I couldn't throw a baseball," Harper recalled. "I think that was tough for me. You guys saw the last two weeks in the season I finally was able to DH. It kind of worked out for us where I could stay in the lineup and I could hit, and I wasn't feeling the pain because I wasn't throwing a baseball."
Harper is healthy this spring and eager to do his part to help the Phillies break their long playoff drought.
There were questions heading into the off-season concerning the Phillies' financial plans. Many thought the team would be forced to slice its payroll, but the Phillies bolstered their bullpen and re-signed two key free agents. Harper said the addition of Dave Dombrowski as president of baseball operations was an indication the team had no intentions of rebuilding.
"You guys know how Dombrowski is and how he works," Harper said. "He wants to win. He was able to do that when he was in Detroit, he was able to do that when he was with Boston, so when he came in, it was like, 'Whoa, here we go.' "
Where the Phillies go this year remains to be seen. Harper believes the National League East is the best division in baseball, so the Phillies have a difficult challenge for 2021.
The last time the Phillies reached the post-season was 2011. They fell just short of reaching the expanded playoffs a year ago.
Harper hopes he and his teammates can set the tone for this season in training camp.
"Everybody sets goals and things like that, but it all starts down here right now," he said. "We need to figure out who we are, what we can do and how we can do it and take it one month at a time and get it going."
