Bryce Harper knee injury: Nationals OF not 100 percent yet

Harper said that his surgically repaired knee feels “great”, but that he doubts it will be at 100 percent at the beginning of spring training. He did begin sprinting once again three weeks ago, and remains on track to be fully healthy for Opening Day. For now, however, he is on week 13 of a 16-week rehabilitation plan.

The young Nationals star played through multiple side, knee and hip injuries in 2013, only playing in 118 games. Most people attributed the injuries to two wall collisions in April and May, but Harper says that he had been having troubles before then. When asked about playing through his injuries, Harper said:

”I’ll probably never do that again. My knee was a lot worse than people probably thought. I’ll probably never do that again.“Harper had surgery back in October to debride and repair the bursa in his left knee. He has been working on building mass during the offseason in hopes of staying injury-free.

If Harper was limited last year, it will be a scary proposition for the rest of the National League to face him when healthy. Despite all his physical issues, he managed to hit .274/.368/.486 with 20 home runs with an 854 OPS. As a 20-year-old. He couldn’t legally drink or go to strip clubs or whatever, and he was hobbled all year long. Jiminy crickets.

At the very least, Harper has kept up his good spirits this offseason:

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