The Philadelphia Phillies lost Game 1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLDS, and they feared that they could have lost one of their key players as well. Harrison Bader left the game due to groin tightness, and he was set for imaging the next morning.
It looks like Bader got some good news surrounding the injury, and there's hope that he could play in the next game, according to USA Today's Bob Nightengale.
“Center fielder Harrison Bader's MRI shows no tear or major strain and Phillies manager Rob Thomson is hopeful he can be available in Game 2,” Nightengale wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Bader was optimistic that he would return to the series after the injury.
“I definitely feel like I'll be able to come back, for sure,” Bader said. “We have an off-day tomorrow, we'll just get some imaging done and go from there.
“It just felt a little weird. I don't know, really, what to attribute it to. I made a full-speed diving catch in center and obviously felt good all day swinging and everything — took some pretty intense swings up there prior to that. I just think random things happen, unfortunately.”
If Bader has to miss any time, Brandon Marsh would be the only player on the roster who has started any games in center field this season. Max Kepler played center field in the ninth inning of Game 1 after Marsh was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the eighth.
For now, it looks like Bader has a good chance of playing in the next game, and that will be big for a team that is already down 1-0 in the series.
