Major League Baseball is extremely serious about enforcing their new pace-of-play rules this season, as Bryce Harper is quickly learning.
The Philadelphia Phillies slugger Harper, who just returned to their lineup after undergoing Tommy John surgery on his elbow, sported a large elbow brace while on the basepaths during Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The brace is intended to protect Harper’s surgically-repaired elbow when he slides.
But unfortunately, MLB’s pitch clock rules mean that Harper has to have the brace on his elbow before the first pitch to the next batter (officially, there is a 30-second timer between batters). That led to an issue in the ninth inning when Harper’s brace got caught after he reached base and he was unable to properly slide it over his elbow in time. As a result, Harper ran the bases without the brace.
After the game, which the Phillies lost 10-6, Harper told reporters that he brought up the issue beforehand with the league office and commissioner Rob Manfred. But they denied his request for more time to put on his brace.
“I mean, we talked all the way up to Mr. Manfred, and they said we wouldn’t have more time to do that,” the former MVP Harper said, per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. “Pace of play thing, of course. It’s going to be tough.
“Sometimes it gets jammed or caught,” Harper added of his brace. “I hope maybe some umpires have some feel about it. Some umpires usually do. I appreciate that out of them. But we’ll see. I know they are going to try and give me extra time. I want to be able to get it on and get it going.”
For their part, Major League Baseball issued a statement of their own to The Athletic in response.
“MLB does not make exceptions to the playing rules for individual players,” the statement read. “The league consulted multiple orthopedists and athletic trainers before deciding on the current policy, which is that players are free to wear protective equipment while running the bases, provided they put it on within the proper time frames.”
For Harper, who had the Tommy John procedure in late November of last year, a return to action in early May was nothing short of remarkable. But there is still obvious risk when it comes to his elbow, which the Phillies are trying to mitigate by slotting him at DH and by having him wear the brace.
There are some areas in which the league has modified the pitch clock rules, which were just implemented this season, to fit with certain circumstances. Harper’s elbow brace issue is not going to be one of them though.
