He’ll be back. We just don’t know when | Sports Daily Newsletter

Bryce Harper, the Phillies’ battered star, promised he’d return this season, regardless of the team’s position in the standings. That’s the good news.

The bad? He doesn’t know when he’ll make his triumphant return from the thumb fracture that required surgery. Harper spoke publicly Tuesday for the first time since that procedure to insert three pins into his injured digit, and said he “can’t do anything” from a baseball standpoint until the pins are removed in about three weeks.

Regarding the elbow injury that has hampered him since April, Harper wants to address the thumb before his torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right arm.

So for now, he’ll settle for being a highly paid fan while watching the Phillies from the couch with his family.

— Maria McIlwain, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

❓What is the biggest need for the Flyers heading into this week’s NHL draft? Email us back for a chance to be featured in the newsletter.

Will the Phillies be aggressive buyers at the Aug. 2 trade deadline? That seemed more certain before a Blake Snell pitch fractured a bone in Bryce Harper’s left thumb. With their MVP on the mend, it will be up to the rest of the Phillies to give their front office a reason to be major players at the deadline. They need to give their ownership a reason to push president Dave Dombrowski and general manager Sam Fuld in that direction.

Marcus Hayes writes that there’s a strong argument to be made that starter Zack Wheeler, not Harper, is the Phillies’ most important player.

Connor Brogdon finally rejoined the Phillies after being confined to a San Diego hotel for eight days because of a positive COVID-19 test.

A lot has changed for the Phillies over the last month-plus. They’re now 81 games into the season and on the doorstep of wild-card contention after routing the Nationals to open a three-game series.

Next: The Phillies continue their home series against the Nationals at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday (NBCSP). Aaron Nola (5-5, 3.13 ERA) will be opposed by Nationals right-hander Josiah Gray (6-5, 4.22).

Charlie Brown Jr., who played at George Washington High and St. Joseph’s, was a feel-good story last season as the local kid turned a 10-day deal into a two-way contract with the 76ers. The story got even better when he played regular-season minutes and served as a defensive specialist.

He’s still holding on as he begins play at the Salt Lake City NBA Summer League — and Brown is trying to keep it that way. He talked to The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey about staying in the moment and taking every opportunity. That approach is an extension of Brown’s motto: “All we need is today.”

Brown isn’t the only young Sixer in Salt Lake City. Jaden Springer had a 15-point effort in the team’s opener and hopes to make an impact as a second-year player.

Next: The Sixers play the Utah Jazz at 9 p.m. Wednesday as part of the Salt Lake City Summer League.

With just a day and a half until the 2022 NHL draft, the Flyers could still go in a number of directions.

Olivia Reiner looks at five players the Flyers might select when they are on the clock with the No. 5 pick Thursday night. That is assuming the Flyers actually make the pick, with rumblings out there that the team could make a move for Blackhawks goal machine Alex DeBrincat.

What does Union player and U.S. youth national team star Quinn Sullivan have in common with Walter Bahr, one of the heroes of the 1950 United States men’s national team’s shocking win over England at the World Cup, who was born three years before the U.S. made the semifinals of the 1930 inaugural World Cup, its highest-ever finish in the competition?

For one thing, they were both born and raised in Philadelphia and are part of the deep connections the city has to soccer history in the United States. They even played for the same youth club.

We asked you: In what year did the Athletics leave Philadelphia?

Answer: D: 1955. The team moved to Kansas City for the 1955 season, then to the current home of Oakland in 1968. Stephen S. was first with the correct answer.

We asked you: What will the Phillies have to accomplish for Rob Thomson to earn the managing post permanently?

Among your responses:

“The Phillies manager should keep doing what he has been doing since he took over these Phillies. They play more relaxed with much more enthusiasm than before his tenure. He works well with the general manager and the press and is showing he was a hidden gem for many years.” — Ed Camp

“In order for Rob Thompson to lock up the manager’s job on a permanent basis, he will need to steer this team into the playoffs. If he can get them into the playoffs with that bullpen, their MVP missing 6-8 weeks, and a substandard defense, what other candidate would be a better fit for this team?” — Jason Phillips

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from Dave Caldwell, Mike Jensen, Sam Cohn, Matt Breen, Keith Pompey, Scott Lauber, Alex Coffey, Olivia Reiner, and Gus Elvin.