Bryce Harper feels good after first at-bats in a week, expected to return to the lineup Saturday

CLEARWATER, Fla. — It rained early Friday, washing out a minor-league game in which Bryce Harper was supposed to get at-bats for the first time in a week.

So, the Phillies improvised.

Once the rain stopped, by midmorning, Harper dressed in his red-pinstriped home jersey — right down to the headband and Phanatic-themed shin protector — and batted seven times in 3½ innings of a scrimmage on a back field at the Carpenter Complex. He struck out and homered, walked and made hard contact, even beat out a chopper to third base.

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Mostly, he made up for lost time.

“Whenever you’re able to get back here and see pitches and things like that, it’s huge,” Harper said after facing prized pitching prospect Mick Abel and fellow righties Michael Mercado and Christian McGowan.

“Seeing the good arms that I did, seeing velo, that’s the biggest thing, trying to get on time and catch up to velo. I’ll get there, then we’ll be good,” Harper said.

And the cranky lower back that interrupted Harper’s spring last week?

“I feel fine,” he said. “Feel good.”

Go ahead and exhale. We’ll wait.

Another test awaits on Saturday. Harper is scheduled to play five or six innings at first base in Tampa against the Yankees, who will have tough lefty Carlos Rodón on the mound. If it’s velocity that Harper wants, Rodón runs his fastball to the plate in the upper-90s.

But Harper maintained that it wasn’t a big deal that he woke up last Friday with a stiff back. Manager Rob Thomson insisted he was never worried that Harper would be ready for opening day even though No. 3 has gotten only 22 at-bats in nine Grapefruit League games.

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And to be fair, Harper didn’t get any at-bats in spring training — or even on a minor-league assignment — before leaping into last season on May 2, 160 days after having a ligament in his right elbow reconstructed.

So, although Harper would rather check certain boxes before the Phillies turn out the lights at BayCare Ballpark and fly home to open the season Thursday against the Braves, these last few days of camp feel mostly perfunctory, even for him.

Consider the instructions that Harper received from Thomson before the scrimmage.

“I told him, ‘Be careful. If you’re on base five times, I only want you to run the bases twice — or three times, maybe — depending on how your legs feel,’ ” Thomson said. “And he did it, so that’s good.”

Harper stopped at first base after banging an opposite-field homer to left against Mercado in his second at-bat. It was fine. The back fields are no place for two-time National League MVPs to break into home-run trots, anyway.

But Harper ran hard down the line to leg out an infield single against McGowan in his final at-bat. In between, he made hard contact twice on a worm-burner to first base and a line drive to right field, both against Abel, who struck out Harper in his first at-bat.

All in all, Harper was more satisfied with his swing than on Wednesday in batting practice when his body language projected such disgust that a few onlookers wondered whether his back was acting up again.

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“I just wasn’t feeling good, swing-wise,” Harper said. “Still obviously a work in progress. The more and more I see pitches and things like that, the more it’ll get there.”

Harper has played an average of 122 games in the last three seasons. In 2021, he missed two weeks with a bruised left wrist after taking the ricochet of a pitch that hit him in the face. A year later, he sat out for nine weeks with a broken thumb. And although he returned in record time last year from Tommy John elbow surgery, it still cost him the first 30 games.

At age 31, Harper will have to manage a bad back that has bothered him on and off since 2020. It might require occasional rest, or moving into the designated hitter spot every so often. The Phillies are hoping that a permanent move to first base will be less strain on his back than running around the outfield.

But with his back feeling better for much of the week, Harper’s main focus is getting his swing up to speed before he faces flame-throwing Braves ace Spencer Strider on opening day Thursday at Citizens Bank Park.

In that sense, Harper said the heaters that he saw Friday were decent approximations. It was reminiscent of last April, when Harper worked his way back from surgery by facing hard-throwing minor leaguers, including Jeff Hoffman, who wound up becoming a key piece of the Phillies’ bullpen.

“[Abel’s] got good stuff, man,” Harper said. “He’s got a good fastball. Mercado does, too. A little different plane on fastballs for him. It was a little bit lower, like an elevator ball, we call it. Mick’s a little bit more up top and throwing at the top of the zone. I thought they both had pretty good stuff.

“Body-wise, I feel good. It’s just really trying to catch up to velo that’s the biggest thing. If I can be on time for that, then kind of everything else will fall into place.”

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Trea Turner hyperextended his left elbow in the fifth inning of a 4-3 Grapefruit League loss to the Tigers when his backswing hit Detroit catcher Jake Rogers. Turner stayed in the game and completed six innings. He’s expected to be off Saturday before playing Sunday and Monday, according to Thomson. ... The Phillies optioned utility man Weston Wilson to triple A and reassigned pitcher David Buchanan, catchers Cam Gallagher and Aramis Garcia, outfielders Jordan Luplow, David Dahl, and Cal Stevenson, and utility man Scott Kingery.