Touch 'Em All: Surgery for Harper

Nationals outfielder Bryce Harper reportedly is going to be sidelined at least until July because of surgery on his left thumb.

ESPN.com reported that the two-time all-star will have the operation Tuesday.

Washington spokesman John Dever declined to comment. The team was off Monday and plays Tuesday night at Houston.

The Nationals put Harper on the 15-day disabled list Sunday, saying he had a sprained left thumb.

Harper was hurt Friday night on a headfirst slide into third base on a triple against San Diego. He didn't leave the game until after the next inning.

"I slid into the bag and I caught it a little bit," he said about his thumb after that game. "Went into the dugout, swung a couple in the cage, felt fine. Went out to the outfield, it swelled up a little bit. ... So I got in and got some treatment on it."

Harper is hitting .289 with one home run and nine RBIs.

Robinson Cano knows it will be awkward from the moment he walks into Yankee Stadium and has to figure out the route to the visitors' clubhouse for the first time in his career.

And that's before he takes the field in the Bronx wearing something other than pinstripes.

"It's going to be weird," Cano said. "It's going to feel a lot different being on the other side."

After signing his $240 million, 10-year contract with Seattle in the offseason, the all-star second baseman will return to New York for the first time as a member of the Mariners on Tuesday when they open a three-game series against the Yankees.

Cano figures the reaction will be mixed. He was supposed to be the next great Yankees player to spend his career in New York, following the lead of Mariano Rivera, Jorge Posada and the soon-to-be retiring Derek Jeter.

- Inquirer wire services