Nationals' slugger Bryce Harper fine after collision with Marlins' Derek Dietrich

Washington's 22-year-old slugger Bryce Harper started play on Sunday leading the NL in AVG (.333), OBP (.464), SLG (.649), runs scored (104), and Wins Above Replacement (8.5 fWAR), and he was second in walks (110), six shy of the Nationals' franchise record for a season (2005-present), and third in the National League in home runs, with 36 in 134 games and 573 plate appearances.

Harper was 0 for 7 with a walk and five Ks in two games in Miami, however, heading into the series finale with Brad Hand and the Marlins.

He was out of the game just one inning in, after he collided with second baseman Derek Dietrich on a grounder to short off of Jayson Werth's bat.

Dietrich was late to the base in the previous at bat, forcing Miguel Rojas to race to the bag, so he hustled over to give Rojas the option of a force when Werth grounded to short with two down. Harper, seeing the throw go to first, decided he'd take third and ended up colliding with the Marlins' infielder.

Nats' skipper Matt Williams and team trainer Lee Kuntz ran out to check on Harper, who was flat on his back in the infield and appeared dazed.

After the game, a 5-0 win over the Fish, he talked to reporters who wondered if he'd gone back and looked at what happened?

"I haven't seen it," Harper said. "I felt like I helicoptered or something. I felt like I just went down and tumbled. I saw that [third baseman Martin] Prado crashed to the shortstop side and -- I don't know who was playing short -- but he came in grabbed it and threw it to first and as I saw Prado crash over, I was thinking, 'Third base is going to be wide open, just in case [Werth] is safe, I can get to third, and we're first and third with two outs.'

"Dietrich was just -- I didn't even seen Dietrich -- I was looking this way, and as I was looking that way, I just ran into him and got him and clipped him.

"I didn't think there was even a play or opportunity at second base, but I mean, maybe he thought there was, but I clipped him, clipped the side of him and went down."

"It was hard for us to tell on the bench," Williams said when asked if he saw what happend.

"I'm looking at the play. I can gather though that he's turning second going to third on the slow roller. Dietrich is going for the force potentially.

"Once he starts to see that the shortstop is going throw it across the diamond, [Dietrich] starts to peel off and Bryce is looking at the ball and they ran into each other."

"When we got out there, he reported a little bit of dizziness," Williams said. "So as a precaution we took him out.

"All tests after and since have been really good. No signs of a concussion. So we'll keep evaluating him through the night and see how he is tomorrow. They just ran into each other out there, it happens. "

"I tried to get up on my own," Harper explained.

"I felt pretty dizzy. Once I rolled I just -- I didn't feel right. I was looking up into the stadium, I just didn't feel good at all.

"I told them I was fine to play, but once I told them I was dizzy, they were just like, there's no point. Just get me out of there and see how I feel."

"I'm good now," he said.

"I'm totally fine. I just think once I hit the collision, I hit my hip pretty hard, my left hip that's been bothering me a little bit.

"So got out of there, put some ice on there also, and just tried to get out of there. I wanted to play, I wanted to stay in there, but precautionary measures they got me out of there."

"I don't think anybody has given in..." - MW on the Nationals

Photo © Robert Mayer-USA TODAY Sports

Williams said that in a season filled with injuries, seeing Harper going down was tough.

"Not good. Not a good feeling running out there to see what's wrong, but luckily everything else is fine and he feels good right now, which is a good sign."

As for whether or not Harper will be available for tonight's game with the Philadelphia Phillies in Citizens Bank Park?

"Don't know," Williams said. "Again, we won't know until we get a chance -- the protocol is you keep evaluating and if he has signs of a headache or nausea or anything like that then we have to take those precautions."