Phillies' Bryce Harper hasn't hit a home run in a month, but he's not worried

A month after his last relaxed trip around the bases, Bryce Harper is no longer taking anything for granted.

But in the seventh inning of the Phillies' 10-1 loss at Miami on Sunday, Harper hit the ball hard (96.8 mph, according to Statcast) and high (32-degree launch angle), causing him to pause at home base to follow the ball's trajectory as it headed toward the right-field bleachers.

And then it crashed down from the top of the wall.

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“Unbelievable,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He can't buy one.”

In fact, the ball would have been out in 16 of 30 stadiums, including Citizens Bank Park. Instead, Harper narrowly beat Marlins right fielder Jesús Sánchez's throw to second base and hit a double. His streak without a home run spanned 25 games and 108 at-bats.

It is the second longest dry spell of his career.

Is it also a cause for concern?

Not according to Harper.

“Of course home runs are going to come,” he said after Sunday's game. “I know it's been a while. But I've hit some good shots and gotten some good results. I just have to keep going.”

Harper is a perfectionist who is often harder on himself than any critic. When he has a blackout, there is usually an explanation. Last season, for example, his home run drought, which spanned 38 games and 164 batting appearances, coincided with his return from Tommy John elbow surgery without attending spring training or participating in a minor league warm-up.

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This year, Harper is playing despite wrist pain and irritation in his right elbow, two nagging issues he described to MLB.com two weeks ago. He said his wrist has felt better recently; the elbow pain, which he said has nothing to do with his surgically reconstructed ligament, is only intermittent.

Perhaps the injuries have sapped some of Harper's power. Although he doesn't hit the ball out of the field, he still hits it hard. Since the All-Star break, a period that includes a 2-for-38 slump, he ranks third among Phillies' regulars in average exit velocity (91 mph) and second in hard hit rate (48.6%).

Harper has hits, too. After batting 1-for-12 with six strikeouts in a three-game series in Atlanta last month, he was 22-for-59 (.373) with nine doubles, six RBIs, six walks, nine strikeouts and a .973 OPS in 16 games before Monday night's home game against the Rays. Overall, he has a .285 batting average with 36 doubles, 26 home runs and an .894 OPS.

If anything, Harper is striking fewer balls, a quality of contact that relies on an ideal combination of launch angle and exit velocity. He struck 12.3% of his balls before the break, but has since dropped to 4.9%.

And there are moments, usually after mishits, when Harper looks distinctly uncomfortable at the plate. That happened last week at bat in Toronto. Then he winced in the first inning on Sunday after taking an awkward half-swing on a changeup thrown deep and far by Marlins starter Edward Cabrera.

“I'm going to swing and miss and it's going to hurt,” Harper said. “You'll probably see that the rest of the year. That's just how it is. Fix it in the offseason. You'll probably see it a couple more times before the end of the year.”

Thomson said: “He just gets these bites every now and then. He's good.”

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The Phillies trust Harper to speak up when he needs a break. He also has a lot of faith in head coach Paul Buchheit, who oversaw his record-breaking comeback from Tommy John surgery in 160 days. And Harper said he was told he couldn't do any more damage to his wrist or elbow if he continued to play every day.

Given his experience with pain, Harper doesn't think a day off would help either. He has started 46 of 47 games since the All-Star break, playing all but 10 innings. He stayed at first base except for Sunday, when he was the designated hitter.

And it will likely stay that way at least until the Phillies win their first NL East title since 2011.

Even then, Thomson talked about the importance of securing a bye in the best-of-three wild-card series and finishing with the best record in baseball to secure home-field advantage for the entire postseason.

But there is one thing that is more important to him than anything else.

“It's about health,” Thomson said. “Any kind of aches or pains are a warning sign this time of year and you try to get rid of them. So health is what I'm most concerned about.”

“And then when we get to the last few games, there are certain things I look at statistically for each individual player. A guy might hit .300 or get 100 RBIs. Whatever that particular number is. I look at that too.”

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But it will certainly be more important for Harper to slow down in the final week of the season to ensure he is healthy for the playoffs than statistical milestones.

“This division is far from finished,” said Harper. “There are two good teams [the Braves and Mets] behind us. We're going to play the Mets a couple of times. We've got to keep going. We've just got to keep going, keep going.

“Once we are there, we will hopefully have a few days [off]. But of course we want to win this league, we want to achieve our main goal. When we get there, we'll see.”