Phillies Get Bad News With Bryce Harper Injury Update

For the past few days Philadelphia Phillies manager Joe Girardi has fielded questions on why Bryce Harper has been absent from the team's lineup. Girardi was adamant that there were no medical issues with his star outfielder.

Well, apparently Joe Girardi was lying through his teeth, and he admitted as such. The Phillies placed Harper on the IL today and the Phillies' manager claimed he neglected to mention this earlier because he saw keeping that information quiet was a competitive advantage.

Harper lands on the IL with a forearm contusion.

Girardi said he withheld information and did not tell the truth to reporters asking about Harper's health over the last few days because he believed it was a competitive advantage.
— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) May 25, 2021

In 38 games thus far in 2021, Harper is hitting .274 with 7 home runs and 13 RBIs. His solid numbers haven't translated to wins though. Philly is currently 23-25 and sits in fourth place in the weak NL East standings. They rank No. 20 in the MLB in runs per game, so getting Harper's offensive production back as soon as possible will be paramount if they want any chance of staying in this divisional race.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Phillies have +450 odds to win the NL East, according to FanDuel Sportsbook's latest MLB odds.

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David Kaestle is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username davekaestle. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.