Washington Nationals uber prospect Bryce Harper injured his right hamstring Thursday going from first to third on a double by Harrisburg teammate Archie Gilbert. With just 18 games left on the Senator's regular season schedule, there has been speculation Washington might just shut down their prized hitting prospect for the rest of the minor league season. Via Ben Goessling of MASN, Nationals manager Davey Johnson seems to agree with that sentiment:
"He probably won't play the rest of the year, as far as I know. There's only a few days left. You take a chance of aggravating it, and it becomes more of a serious injury."
Harper has handled himself quite well in the minor leagues this season, batting .297 with 17 home runs and 58 runs batted in at Harrisburg and Hagerstown, and there is no real reason to toy with a hamstring injury, which can stick with a player for a long time without proper rest. Even if Harper were to shut it down now for Harrisburg, he would have sufficient time to rest the hamstring before possible playing in the Arizona Fall League a month and a half from now.