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There was one odd Bryce Harper-related injury story going around the internet this morning when everyone read Washington Post writer Adam Kilgore's article entitled, "Chris Marrero suffers setback; injury updates on Chien-Ming Wang and Mark DeRosa", and came across the following paragraphs about the setback veteran infielder Mark DeRosa suffered as a result of Philadelphia Phillies' pitcher Cole Hamels' decision to hit Bryce Harper. After Harper paid Hamels back for the HBP by stealing home later in the inning Sunday night in the series finale with the Phillies, the 19-year-old exuberantly high-fived his teammates in the dugout, inadvertently causing damage to DeRosa's strained oblique muscle:
"Mark DeRosa’s progress returning from a strained left oblique muscle was stunted in an odd way, Johnson said. As Bryce Harper came into the dugout Sunday night after he stole home against the Phillies, DeRosa aggravated his oblique when Harper gave him a forceful high-five.
"'I don’t know if that set back the rehab or not,' Johnson said. 'But I said, ‘Why didn’t use your [right] hand?’ He said it was spur of the moment.'"
The day ended with an even odder Bryce Harper injury story, however, this one self-inflicted. At some point during tonight's game, Washington Nationals fans watching the Nats beat the Reds, 7-3, noticed that there was blood pouring from above the Nats' 2010 no.1 overall pick's left eye... Why was Bryce Harper bleeding? (Go ahead and click that link, I started a Twitter hashtag so all the responses are collected.) Nats' skipper Davey Johnson told reporters what happened after the game....
Harper took his frustrations out on the wall, w a bat. Davey said the bat came back & hit him. May need a stitch or 2, may be out few days
— Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 12, 2012
Bryce Harper had a decent sized welt above left eye. Needed 10 stitches but didn't feel dazed, said he has no intention of missing a game
— Amanda Comak (@acomak) May 12, 2012
Bryce Harper had a golf ball-sized lump over his eye, clumps of blood in his hair. 10 stitches. "I'm fine," he said. Wants to play tomorrow.
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 12, 2012
Ian Desmond says the Nats are going to start calling Harper, "Bam Bam."
— Adam Kilgore (@AdamKilgoreWP) May 12, 2012
• LINK: Here's how Davey Johnson described the incident in his post game press conference:
"We had a little accident during the game by the way," Davey Johnson told reporters after tonight's game, "Bryce made an out and he came in, and I heard him come in the runway and I take it he swung and hit the wall with his bat and evidently I [thought] it splintered and cut his eye, I think it was his left eye. I didn't think much about it. He put a band-aid on it, one of those butterflies, but after he came back the last time I saw the blood coming down his face, I said, 'Go get it treated.' He'll probably need a stitch or two in it, so he'll probably be down for probably a couple days."
Asked if Harper would actually miss time because of the stitches, Johnson said, "From what I found out later, it was [that] the bat splintered, it actually came back and hit in him in the head, so there's going to be some swelling in there and I'm not going to take any chances. We'll see how it is tomorrow, but more than likely he'll miss a couple games." The Nats' manager said there wasn't any concern about an injury to the eye, or the outfielder's actions, saying, "He was very frustrated that he was not centering the ball and that's what ballplayers do, break bats down in the runway, throw helmets. That's not anything new."
"It's an easy way to get rid of your frustrations," Johnson joked, "I hear it a lot. I don't try to monitor it one way of another, it's just a way of venting." The 69-year-old manager and former major leaguer said he would speak to Harper since the 19-year-old, "... evidently went a little overboard because the bat bounced off the wall and cut his eye and he needs stitches. That's not what you want to do. The equipment is supposed to take the brunt of it, but we'll address that."
Harper finished tonight's game 0 for 5 with 3 K's.