The Washington Nationals and Bryce Harper are living on a prayer

Bryce Harper landed in a heap behind the first base bag at Nationals Park Saturday night, adding himself to a laundry list of injured Nats. Harper crumbled inches from where Adam Eaton lay seconds after tearing his ACL in April. The bag that Harper slipped on was wet because of rain, similar to the conditions that led to Wilson Ramos’ ACL tear in 2016. So, that’s the fear: That Harper’s return will be slated for a year from now, just months from his free agency, instead of weeks from now, just months from the 2017 playoffs.

Reports that Harper was walking without a significant limp or a brace do little to quell the fears that Baseball Twitter voiced after watching as one of the sport’s most exciting stars was flung into the air by the catapult created by his own hyperextended knee. Harper won’t undergo his MRI until Sunday morning, so, there’s still time to worry about what the Nationals are calling a hyperextended knee. Dusty Baker, in his postgame press conference, asked for prayers from all baseball fans for a reason. Anyone with any vested interest in the sport of baseball will be worse off in a Harper-less MLB. Who will do the hair flips? Who will make Gumby-like defensive plays? Who will scream obscenities at umpires and blame it on listening to Chance the Rapper pregame?

Whatever the answers to those questions, the plug the Nationals will use for the hole in the lineup and in right field requires more examination. The Nationals are currently without starters Eaton, Jayson Werth, Trea Turner, Stephen Strasburg, Joe Ross, and fringe starter Michael A. Taylor. Brian Goodwin, one of 12 men the Nats have used in the outfield in 2017, is the only healthy player on the Nats right field and center field depth charts. Harper missing any amount of time would mean a second potential MVP season to be would likely be replaced by Andrew Stevenson’s first trip to the majors.

A DL stint would freeze the MVP-caliber stats at .326/.419/.614 with 29 home runs. The offense in D.C. continued to be prolific when faced with injuries to other valuable lineup pieces. Brian Goodwin turned his offense around to be a contributor at the top of the lineup with a .808 OPS, and Wilmer Difo found his stride in July, earning a spot on the Player of the Month ballot. But Bryce is far more valuable than any player the Nationals have attempted to replace. The Angels were able to improve when they lost Mike Trout, but moving toward the mean for Angels hitters meant improving, for Nationals hitters, it would mean regressing. For now, the Nats just wait for MRI results, and if they want to listen to Baker, they pray.