Nationals’ Harper has significant bone bruise

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

When Bryce Harper writhed in pain on the field and clutched at his left knee and then didn’t put weight on his left leg as he was helped off, the possibility of a career-altering injury seemed realistic.

Harper was definitely worried.

“Of course you’re going to think the worst,” he said. “It’s definitely a bad feeling.”

That bad feeling subsided as Harper walked up the stairs from the dugout to the clubhouse, tested his knee by jumping up and down and then got the MRI results that revealed what the Washington Nationals hope is season-saving news.

General manager Mike Rizzo said Harper has a “significant” bone bruise in his left knee but avoided the kind of ligament or tendon damage that would have put a pin in the team’s World Series aspirations.

There’s no definitive timeline for Harper to return, but manager Dusty Baker referenced 10 days to two weeks.

At the very least the Nationals are hopeful the star outfielder and NL MVP candidate will be back before the end of the season.

“It was definitely a relief,” Harper said Sunday. “We’re going to take some time to definitely let it heal. I want to be at 100 percent whenever I play. The World Series is definitely on my mind, playoffs, things like that.”

Rizzo said the Nationals feel they “dodged a bullet” but didn’t want to undersell the significance of the bone bruise, which came when Harper hyperextended his knee slipping on a wet base in the first inning of a rain-delayed game against the San Francisco Giants on Saturday night.

“The bone bruise, it’s real,” Rizzo said. “It’s an injury, and we’re going to have to treat it accordingly.”

Rizzo said the conditions, which included steady rain during the play “aided” in the injury but didn’t blame Major League Baseball for going ahead with the game. Harper was upset about playing in the rain at 10 p.m. but called it a “freak accident.”

“I don’t like wet bases,” Harper said. “It’s just an unfortunate situation that happened. There’s nothing I can do.”