Bryce Harper Takes Elbow To The Face At Home Plate

In the first inning of Thursday's late afternoon matchup with Miami, the Marlins' catcher Rob Brantly gave Bryce Harper an elbow to the face on a play at the plate causing Harper to writhe in pain on the ground by home plate.

Ryan Zimmerman hit a deep ball to center with Werth on 2nd and Harper on first. (after Harper singled to begin his season on a 3 game hit streak getting a hit on 5 of his first 9 at bats)  Werth held at second for a minute and Bryce Harper tried to lap JW on the bases as the Zimmerman hit fell into the outfield for a hit.




Harper tossed his helmet off, as he does, and slid into home plate on a close play.  The Marlins catcher couldn't handle the ball, which went past him to the backstop.  Bryce probably would have been out had the throw been good, but it wasn't.  Once Brantly knew he missed the ball, he made sure to give Harper a shot to the face.

Bryce was shaken up a bit, and walked off the field with his hair in a mess.  He continued to hold his face throughout the inning, taking a nice little shot to what appeared to be his jaw.  FP suggested that had Harper not tossed his helmet, he wouldn't have gotten smashed.

"There's no blood, he can go back" - What Jayson Werth said according to Davey Johnson.

He seems to be OK