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Jayson Stark- “I Would be Wary of Bryce Harper Pushing It.”

Placeholder Shilloutte User Image By The Best Show Ever? and Dylan MacKinnon March 22nd
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - NOVEMBER 03: Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies at bat against the Houston Astros during the seventh inning in Game Five of the 2022 World Series at Citizens Bank Park on November 03, 2022 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

There is a lot going on in the Phillies’ world right now. On one hand, we learned Bryce Harper won’t be going on the 60-day IL. Opening it up for him to return far earlier than we thought. And on the other, we just saw Trea Turner light the world on fire in the World Baseball Classic. Getting Phillies fans excited to see him in meaningful MLB games in April. And to discuss both those things, Hall of Fame baseball writer Jayson Stark joined The Best Show Ever.

First, he tackled the news about Bryce Harper. And while he saw the logic in not putting him on the 60-day IL, he cautioned us against reading too much into it and banking on him being back in May.

When you have that surgery the first thing they do is give you a schedule. The key to fully recovering is you have to follow that plan.It is the people who push it that have problems. So I would be wary of Bryce pushing it. I know he feels great. Of course he feels great. He has a new elbow. It doesn’t hurt. It has never done anything but rehab. But it is not always going to feel this great once he starts to pick up this pace. 

Im just saying that people should be careful about getting too optimistic. For him to make it back in under 6 months, is way ahead of the Ohtani pace. What I was told was him to come back before 60 days is not likely. This was about not closing any door. It was smart to do that. We just have no idea what it means yet. 

And then Jayson Stark was also asked about Trea Turner’s great performance at the World Baseball Classic, and if we can expect more of that this season with the Phillies…

The Trea Turner signing won the vote for best signing of the winter. Because he is one of the best players in the sport. People who I surveryed told me that over and over again. He can change a game and change a lineup in so many ways. Every where I go people talk to me about how good the Phillies lineup is going to be, especially when Bryce Harper comes back. The reason it can be one of the great lineups in the game is Trea Turner. He is going to be the guy who starts the engine. He is awesome.

You can listen to the full conversation with Jayson Stark below…

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How These 6 Phillies Players Performed in The World Baseball Classic

The World Baseball Classic is over. Unfortunately, Team USA lost. They ran into Team Japan, who had this guy named Shoehei Ohtani, who is pretty good at baseball. USA trailed by one run heading into the ninth inning. It was Ohtani on the mound though. He had a pretty easy inning, closing it out by striking out his Angels teammate Mike Trout to give Japan the win. But Team USA did make it all the way to the Finals. That was thanks in large part to the Phillies on the WBC classic team.

And it wasn’t just Team USA that benefited from having Phillies players on their team. Six Phillies, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, JT Realmuto, Taijuan Walker, Jose Alvarado, and Garrett Stubbs all went out there to represent their countries. Ranger Suarez was supposed to pitch for Team Venezuela, but an injury forced him to withdraw. Gregory Soto was originally on the Dominican Republic roster. But Visa issues kept him from participating. The other 6, played very well though. In some cases, great.

We saw Trea Turner showing off his power. But the rest of the Phillies players showed up to. Giving us many reasons to be excited about the upcoming season. But how good did they all perform?

Let’s look at how all the Phillies players performed at the World Baseball Classic.

[Source: MLB.com]

  • Trea Turner- Team USA

    No one showed up more in the World Baseball Classic than Trea Turner. He clubbed 5 HRS, including 4 in the knockout stage. And over as we all know, one of those was a massive go-ahead Grand Slam that helped Team USA beat Venezuela. He slashed .391/.440/1.043/1.483. Yes, his slugging percentage alone was over 1.000. Both his slugging and OPS led Team USA. And his 5 HRs led the entire WBC. Turner is probably more known for his speed. But he wanted to remind us all he can crush a ball too.

  • Kyle Schwarber- Team USA

    Only two players hit multiple home runs for Team USA. Obviously Turner, and then Kyle Schwarber. One came in their first game vs Great Britian. The other came in the finals against Japan. And of course, it was with Yu Darvish on the mound. Schwarbers last HR off Yu in game 1 of the NLCS still hasn’t landed. This one didn’t travel quite as far. But he did hit several foul balls about 400 feet each before he finally got one to straighten out. Schwarber only had one other hit besides the two home runs, along with 5 walks. But those two shots were enough to put him 5th in slugging percentage, and 3rd in OPS.

  • JT Realmuto- Team USA

    Well, now we know who was 1st on Team USA in OPS (Trea Turner) and 3rd (Kyle Schwarber). But who was 2nd? It wasn’t Mike Trout or Mookie Betts. No, that honor belongs to the best catcher in baseball. JT did not hit any HRs like Schwarber or Turner. But he went 6-12 at the plate, with a walk. So he literally got on base more often than he produced an out. And he caught some people stealing for good measure too.

  • Taijuan Walker- Team Mexico

    Walker only pitched once in the World Baseball Classic. But man he looked good. Walker went four innings of scoreless baseball, giving up just 1 walk and 1 out. And he struck out 8 guys in those 4 innings. If Walker pitches like this, the Phillies rotation is going to be stacked. Walker is supposed to be their 4th starter. He didn’t look like a 4th starter in the World Baseball Classic.

  • Jose Alvarado- Team Venezuela

    Jose Alvarado, like Taijuan Walker, did not get a ton of play in the WBC. But he did pitch 3 innings, gave up 0 runs, and struck out 5 people. He did give up 3 hits and a walk, but none of them did any damage. This included a scoreless inning vs Team USA in the Quarter Finals. And he got the save against Nicaragua.

  • Garrett Stubbs- Team Israel

    Garrett Stubbs only played in one game for Team Israel before na injury forced him to withdraw. But he looked pretty good in that one game. Stubbs went 2-5 with a  double and 2 RBIS.

    Garett Stubbs

    (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

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