Bryce Harper is day to day after leaving Wednesday’s game because of a bruise to the area under his left shoulder blade.
The Washington Nationals outfielder felt pain after checking his swing on an offering from Atlanta Braves starter Paul Maholm and exited the game.
“The check swing, having all the force going toward the ball then just stopping, immediately it just got me a little bit,” Harper told MLB.com. “It got me to the point where I couldn’t breathe and I had to catch my breath. It didn’t feel very good.”
Harper, 20, initially bruised the area Tuesday night when he ran into the wall while attempting to catch a home run. Nationals manager Davey Johnson said Harper wanted to stay in Wednesday’s game despite the pain.
“We couldn’t take a chance on it,” Johnson said. “You worry about it, because it’s a really bad contusion in there. With all the blood in there, it could cause some other problems. We’ll take it day by day and check him tomorrow.”
The 2012 National League Rookie of the Year has been one of the league’s most productive player so far in 2013. Harper has nine home runs and a .337/.427/.705 batting line through 27 games.
