Bryce Harper's big day is coming soon

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Take a red Sharpie and circle Monday on your Phillies pocket schedule.

Actually, hold on a second.

Bryce Harper went 2-for-3 with two home runs and two walks in his first rehab appearance on Tuesday night with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. It was a great sign for Harper, who has not seen live pitching since he broke his left thumb on June 25 in San Diego. Harper’s rehab assignment was originally scheduled to run through Saturday, which would allow him to fly with the Phillies to Phoenix on Sunday evening for a six-game road trip beginning Monday night against Arizona at Chase Field.

But after Tuesday’s performance in Allentown? Who knows? Maybe Harper is back before Monday.

“That guy is crazy,” Bryson Stott said, shaking his head. “He’s something.”

“Bring him up,” Jean Segura said, smiling. “He doesn’t need more games. What’s he doing up there? He’s ready. We’re happy that he’s doing well. Hopefully he comes back quicker. If he hits two homers, bring him up.”

Harper is on the 60-day injured list, which means he cannot be activated until Thursday at the earliest. He pumped the brakes when asked about the chances that he might cut his rehab assignment short. He has missed a lot of games, and it takes time for a hitter to feel like he has his timing back at the plate.

“Tonight was great, right?” Harper told The Associated Press. “But at the same time, I need the at-bats, I need to be able to see pitches, different guys, different angles, understanding how my body's going to react, what my thumb's going to be like.”

But again, you never know. If Harper keeps hitting like this, it would not be stunning to see his name unexpectedly appear on the lineup card before the end of the weekend.

Harper will DH exclusively whenever he returns, which should not surprise anybody. He still has a tear in the UCL in his right elbow. He tried to resume a throwing program recently, but the Phillies shut it down because Harper still feels something in the elbow. Harper will not be back in right field until 2023.

His role as the team’s everyday DH means that Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos will man the outfield corners through the end of the season. Schwarber started in left field on Tuesday night for the first time since Aug. 11, when he strained his right calf. He will ease back into outfield duties and will DH on Wednesday.

When Harper returns, the Phillies will need Schwarber to play left field every day because there is not room for both of them at DH. Presumably, Harper will slide back into the No. 3 spot in the lineup, although interim manager Rob Thomson said that he is considering other possibilities.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m going back and forth on it. There’s a lot of conversations to have once you decide on where he’s going to hit and where everybody else is going to hit. But I’ve thought about a lot of different scenarios.”

Harper hit third in 61 out of 63 starts this season. He hit second twice.

Alec Bohm has been the Phillies’ No. 3 hitter since July 28, hitting .290 with four home runs, 17 RBIs and a .764 OPS in 24 games in that spot.

Could Bohm move up in the lineup? Could Harper? The Phillies’ 1-2 hitters have been pretty much the same since late May/early June.

Schwarber has been the team’s primary leadoff hitter since May 28, and Thomson said he is most comfortable hitting there. Rhys Hoskins has hit second almost exclusively since June 2.

Second or third seems most likely for Harper. It is difficult to imagine him hitting lower than third because the Phillies should want one of the best hitters in baseball coming up in the first inning every game. No. 3 hitters have 345 more plate appearances in MLB this season than the No. 4 hitter.

An extra plate appearance or two from Harper down the stretch could be big.

But contemplating where Harper hits and how the pieces fit around him are nice problems to finally have. The Phillies have played well without their superstar for the last two months, but they need him down the stretch.

“It makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up,” Noah Syndergaard said. “Getting one of the best baseball players out there back in our lineup, this offense is going to be a lot of fun to watch.”