Bryce Harper likely to rest vs. Padres over weekend

Harper, 20, missed over a month due to bursitis in his left knee, only returning to the lineup on July 1. In five games since, Harper has struggled. He hit a home run in his first at-bat after being activated, but has since gone 0-18 with seven strikeouts.

Johnson believes Harper’s issues are both mental and physical and that the outfielder is still working off some rust after a long layoff.

Harper suffered the initial knee injury after crashing into the outfield wall April 30 in an attempt to rein in a home run. He then exacerbated the injury by again hitting the wall hard on May 13 in Los Angeles.

• When 39-year-old surprises weren’t suspicious

• Manny Ramirez joins (desperate?) Rangers

• Joey Chestnut eats ungodly amount of hot dogs

• A night at the beer pong “Brodeo”

• MLB trade rumors | MLB Daily Dish