Bad injury update for Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber could've been a lot worse

Not only did the Philadelphia Phillies blow a 3-0 lead in the late innings and lose a very winnable game at home against the 29-52 Miami Marlins, but two of their stars, Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber, left the game with injuries.

Schwarber left the game in the eighth inning with groin tightness, and Harper hurt his hamstring as he was running hard to first base in what was the game-ending groundout.

Manager Rob Thomson said updates would come on Friday, and boy, did they ever. Both players were placed on the 10-day IL with their respective injuries, which is bad news. However, the update given by The Athletic's Matt Gelb ($) made it sound like it could've been a lot worse.

Injury update for Phillies stars could've been a lot worse

"Schwarber’s groin strain is considered mild and he could spend the minimum 10 days on the IL," writes Gelb.

This, obviously, is the best-case scenario. Schwarber being out is unfortunate, especially since we're still in June, but he could be back right after the 10-day stint. It could've been much worse.

"The initial prognosis for Harper, those sources said, showed a low-grade hamstring strain. Harper could be activated as soon as July 9, but the Phillies could pad his recovery by another 10 days with the All-Star break serving as a natural buffer."

Harper's timeline is a little less clear, but the diagnosis is a low-grade hamstring strain. It sounds like he'll be on the IL for longer than the 10 days, but not by much. Having the All-Star break approaching means they can have Harper rest more without missing game action, which makes it less likely that he'll re-aggrevate the injury by coming back too early.

Losing Harper and Schwarber for any period of time is brutal, but these strains could've been medium or high-grade, costing these players weeks if not months.

For now, the Phillies have replaced Harper and Schwarber with Johan Rojas and Kody Clemens. There's a good chance that both of these players along with Edmundo Sosa see an uptick in playing time with those players out. We've seen their depth options step up before with players like Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh missing time, perhaps we'll see it again for this brief period in which they'll be without these two left-handed stars.