Phillies reinstate Bryce Harper from 60-day IL

The Phillies have reinstated reigning National League MVP Bryce Harper from the 60-day injured list, tweets Matt Gelb of The Athletic. Infielder/outfielder Yairo Munoz was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to open a spot on the active roster, while fellow outfielder Simon Muzziotti was recalled from Triple-A and placed directly on the 60-day injured list in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster. Philadelphia also recalled southpaw Bailey Falter from Lehigh Valley to start tonight’s game.

Harper is hitting cleanup in today’s Phillies lineup and serving as their designated hitter — a role he figures to occupy down the stretch as he continues to nurse a ligament tear in his throwing elbow. That, of course, is not the injury that’s held Harper out for the past two months. Harper was playing through the elbow issue and serving as a highly productive DH before suffering a fractured thumb upon being hit by a pitch. He required surgery to address the issue and has been out of action since June.

The Phils weathered that absence extremely well, and they find themselves in a strong playoff position as a result. Philadelphia heads into tonight’s game with a 70-55 record that places them firmly in possession of the National League’s second Wild Card spot. They’ll now welcome back Harper, owner of a massive .318/.385/.599 showing through 275 plate appearances, to the lineup for the season’s final five weeks. The aforementioned elbow ligament tear will keep Harper at DH, at least for the time being, but Philadelphia is no doubt thrilled to get his bat back in the lineup.

As for Muziotti, his 2022 season is over due to a torn patellar tendon in his right knee. The 23-year-old, one of the better outfield prospects in the organization, made his MLB debut this April and appeared in nine games. He spent the majority of the year with Double-A Reading, hitting .259/.339/.455 through 38 games. He’ll be paid at the prorated $700K MLB minimum rate for the rest of this season and collect around five weeks of big league service time while looking ahead to 2023.