SAD NEWS : Phillies super star Bryce Harper confirm dead at 36 😭🥹⬇️⬇️

Harper feeling good after back soreness, set to return Saturday
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Is everybody on the Phillies healthy? Bryce Harper is. He had seven plate appearances on Friday afternoon at Carpenter Complex, hitting an opposite-field home run, hustling for an infield single and walking. He is scheduled to play first base on Saturday against the Yankees in Tampa. It will be his first Grapefruit League game since March 14.

“I felt good,” Harper said Friday.

Harper has not played in more than a week because of a sore lower back. It has stirred concerns because Harper has a history of back issues. But he said from the beginning he has every expectation that he will be in the Phillies’ Opening Day lineup on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

Harper faced Phillies prospects Mick Abel, Michael Mercado and Christian McGowan on Friday at the complex. Both Abel and Mercado were in big-league camp until recently. Both could see time in the big leagues this year. Both throw hard.

“Seeing good arms, seeing velo, that’s the biggest thing,” Harper said. “Just trying to get on time and catch up to velo. If I get there, then we’ll be good. Body-wise, I feel good. It’s just really trying to catch up to velo. Obviously, guys throw really hard. We’re going to face a guy on Opening Day who throws really hard.”

The Phillies will face Braves ace Spencer Strider on Thursday.

Zack Wheeler vs. Strider is a great matchup to open the season. The Phillies have ended each of Atlanta’s last two seasons, thumping them twice in the NLDS. But the Braves have won six consecutive NL East titles, plus the 2021 World Series. They won 101 games in 2022 and 104 games in 2023.

The Phillies are widely considered to be the third-best team in the National League, behind the Dodgers and Braves. But they believe they can keep pace with the Braves if they can get off to a good start.

“J.T. [Realmuto] said it the other day, our goal is to win the East,” Harper said.

The Phils think they are better positioned for that because they are entering the season mostly healthy. Right-hander Orion Kerkering might not be ready following a lengthy absence from an illness, although no announcement has been made yet. Right-handers Dylan Covey (right shoulder) and Michael Rucker (right middle finger numbness) and catcher Rafael Marchán (back) are expected to open the season on the injured list.

But every projected starter in the lineup, the five-man rotation, the bench and most of the bullpen is ready.

“I’m excited to go up north,” Harper said. “I think anybody that’s usually in camp this late, you’re ready and pushing to get to Philadelphia. I think we’re all excited as a team to get up there and play in that stadium.”