Nationals Dodge a Bullet on Injury to Harper (Updated)

In one of the more ugly scenes to ever take place at the Washington Nationals ballpark, outfielder Bryce Harper ran out a grounder to first base, only to slip on a wet base and put a damper on the 3-1 win over the San Francisco Giants. The DC collective fan base all had the same reaction: You’ve got to be kidding us.

Over the past few years, the Nationals have slowly and steadily been building themselves into true contender status, only to be hindered by postseason disappointment. The latest injury to Harper, which didn’t look good at all, puts a serious cloud of doubt over the rest of the season and the looming postseason as well. Let’s face it, the Nationals need Bryce Harper to be healthy and ready to win a world series championship.

The MRI scheduled for Sunday put all of the panic to rest:  a significant bone bruise, but no structural damage to the knee.  With that, you now hear a collective gasp of relief coming from the DC Metropolitan area.  With this positive news, the Nationals can continue to build off their early success and focus on getting healthy for a key postseason run.

Harper, who is under contract through the 2018 MLB season, needed some good news today in order to help this Nats team make noise during the postseason.  n a season that has already been plagued by injuries to several marquee names such as Adam Eaton and Stephen Strasburg, Harper is the latest “big fish” to miss some significant time.

Now that the Nationals know the fate of the star outfielder, they can turn their focus to winning the next month and half of regular season ball games, and prepare for when the games matter most: October.

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