So much for a quiet Saturday.
Do you want the good news first, or the bad news first?
Actually, since you’ve presumably read the headline, you already know both.
The regretful news is that Bryce Harper’s return was shorter than we would have liked and the issue that kept him out of last night’s affair in the Steel City is more serious than we would have liked. He’s been placed on the 10-day Injured List, retroactive to yesterday, with what has formally been deemed right wrist inflammation.
The exciting news is that we’ve got an MLB debut on tap: Otto Kemp has been called up from the IronPigs. Kemp, a third baseman, slashed .313/.416/.594 this year as a resident of Allentown. The call-up completes a remarkable journey for the 25-year old out of Fullerton, California. Undrafted after graduating from Point Loma Nazarene College, he attracted the attention of the Phillies and signed as a free-agent in 2022. He started with the Single-A Clearwater Threshers and was briefly promoted to the High-A Jersey Shore BlueClaws in 2023, but began 2024 back in Clearwater on a rehab assignment. He then began an extraordinary rise, playing for all four minor league affiliates that season and ending the year at Triple-A. Now he’s on his way to Philadelphia. Or Pittsburgh, rather. But he’s joining the Philadelphias.