97.5 The Fanatic Phillies Notebook: No Retaliation For Bryce Harper

When a hated opponent from a National League East injures Bryce Harper with a fastball to the elbow, expect Philadelphia Phillies fans to react with venom.

The Phillies entered their homestand looking to sink the Atlanta Braves deeper into an early-season pit. However, passionate diatribe about possible retaliation dominated the chatter leading into another day/night doubleheader.

Spencer Strider always draws a loud chorus of boos at Citizens Bank Park. However, the noise rose to new levels after he drilled Bryce Harper in the elbow with a 95 mile per hour fastball in the first inning of the series opener.

Harper missed both games of the doubleheader with a right elbow contusion. The Phillies don’t anticipate a trip to the IL, but his status for the weekend is in question.

The focus in Philadelphia quickly switched to questions about possible retaliation.

No Phillies pitcher plunked a Braves hitter during the three-game set or threw a suspiciously tight inside pitch. Why didn’t Rob Thomson and the Phillies feel the need to protect their star player?

Bryce Harper also reached with a hit by pitch twice against the Athletics on May 23 with no retaliation from his own side.

The rhetoric on 97.5 The Fanatic featured an interesting contrast. Different mindsets from different generations of baseball fans discussed the evolution of a game into an era when plunking hitters intentionally – for better or for worse – isn’t as prevalent.

The Phillies cleared the dugout against the San Francisco Giants on May 29, 2024 in Harper’s defense. The soft shoving match that ensued (if you can even call it that) resulted from consecutive pitches up and in to Harper. The altercation played no factor in the series.

Fans who lean toward the old school baseball mentality have made sensible points about the need to send a message to opponents who don’t pitch carefully enough to star players – regardless of whether Strider hit Harper intentionally.

However, the territorial mentality has undeniably faded from the game. It’s true for a team under Rob Thomson or any other MLB manager.

Former Braves and Phillies outfielder Jeff Francoeur spoke about the issue on Kincade & Salciunas. He mentioned that the Phillies firing back might even spark a rival team looking for a rallying cry after a slow start to 2025.

J.T. Realmuto began the homestand in the spotlight. Thomson dropped his veteran catcher to eighth in the batting order after a tough West Coast trip and a brutal start to 2025 against left-handed pitching.

However, it was backup catcher Rafael Marchan who stole the show on the front end of the Thursday doubleheader.

The embattled 26-year-old contributed to the victory in conventional and unconventional ways. It was arguably the most impactful performance of his MLB career.

Marchan was credited for an unassisted putout against Marcell Ozuna in the first inning. Atlanta’s unpopular slugger swung and missed too aggressively and prevented Marchan from a fair attempt to throw out Ozzie Albies attempting to steal second base.

Marchan later sat on a slow curveball for his first home run of the season to open the scoring in the third inning. He also walked and scored in the fifth.

However, his best contributions were somehow still to come in the late innings.

Marchan stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth against Daysbel Hernandez. The erratic set-up man skimmed Marchan’s shin guard to force the go-ahead run across the plate.

Jordan Romano put himself in a jam by walking Albies to lead off the ninth. Marchan threw out Atlanta’s speedy leadoff man trying to steal second base with a throw that needed every millisecond of its perfect pop, location, and power to prevent the tying run from reaching scoring position with nobody out.

The momentum swing helped the Phillies escape with a tight victory despite a shaky bullpen performance from Romano and Matt Strahm.

Thomson praised his backup catcher despite a slow start offensively in 2025. 

Marchan has only five hits in 33 at-bats (.154) in 13 games this season. Finding a rhythm in limited opportunities sometimes becomes even more of a challenge for a switch hitter who works on techniques in batting practice from both sides of the plate.

He showed better pop in a more regular role splitting time with Garrett Stubbs in his most extended big league look in 2024. Marchan posted an impressive .894 OPS while Realmuto went almost six weeks between starts early in the summer.

If he sticks at the major league level, he’ll need a comfort level with the limited at-bats after spending most of his minor league career as an everyday catcher.

Marchan caught consecutive shutouts before the standout performance to begin the doubleheader. He spoke after the game about developing good preparation habits with help from Realmuto to work with the pitching staff.

Phillies fans driving to Citizens Bank Park for the nightcap tuned into Jayson Stark on 97.5 The Fanatic to ramp up for a special opportunity.

The Hall of Fame writer shared during his weekly guest appearance that two starting pitchers who finished first and second in National League Cy Young voting in the preceding season hadn’t met in Philadelphia since 1983.

Zack Wheeler personally asked Rob Thomson to switch from the day game to the night.

The anticipated pitching matchup went even worse than the forgettable night against the Montreal Expos with Steve Carlton on the mound against Steve Rogers at Veterans Stadium 42 years ago.

Wheeler and Chris Sale cruised through the early innings. The two aces had matching lines with three scoreless innings and five strikeouts apiece, and Wheeler was painting the corners of a tight strike zone with a fastball that reached 98 miles per hour.

The classic pitchers' duel inexplicably unraveled in the fourth. Atlanta’s big guns Marcell Ozuna, Matt Olson, Austin Riley, and Ozzie Albies crushed Wheeler for four consecutive hits and ended his scoreless inning streak at 27. Philadelphia’s trusted ace struggled to regain his command through the rest of his outing.

Carlos Hernandez allowed two runners inherited from Wheeler to score in the sixth. The floodgates opened in a 9-3 loss.

Sale, meanwhile, cruised through six shutout innings and allowed only two hits. The Braves turned it over the bullpen comfortably after the reigning Cy Young winner struck out eight Phillies hitters.

Atlanta has won both pitching matchups between Wheeler and Sale in 2025. They defeated the Phillies at Truist Park on April 8 when the two aces allowed five earned runs apiece.

The Phillies have built themselves a solid cushion of 9.5 games over the third place Braves, who are relieved to exit Citizens Bank Park with something to show for themselves after two tight losses to begin the series.

The Phillies will host Rhys Hoskins and the Milwaukee Brewers for a three-game weekend set at Citizens Bank Park.

All numbers as of the beginning of play on May 30. All advanced stats courtesy of StatCast, Baseball Reference, and FanGraphs.