According to manager Rob Thomson, Harper has progressed to the point where he’s ready to hit in a game. However, he’s not ready to do everything demanded of a player once he’s on base, as Philadelphia’s skipper indicated Tuesday that sliding is the main obstacle keeping Harper from making his return.

“Once they clear him to do full-out sliding, once we get that, then we'd reevaluate,” said Thomson of the two-time National League MVP, via NBC Sports.

“Once he gets on base, then we can put a brace on him. But if he hits a double, we can't hand a brace off to him as he's rounding first base. That's really where it gets dangerous,” added Thomson.