Bryce Harper talked to the media for 12 minutes Thursday. We all knew the script beforehand. The media were to ask him how he feels, what his timeline looks like, what his workout regimen has been like, and if he’s talked to any other players who’ve experienced Tommy John surgery.

Then, Bryce would answer us, telling us that he feels great, that he doesn’t have a set timeline – and that the All-Star Break is more of a goal than an actual return time period, and that depending on his rehab it could be sooner, or later, than that. He’d tell us he still had good workouts and that he hasn’t talked to anyone about their experience with Tommy John surgery because most of the guys he knows who have had it are pitchers and as a position player it’s different.

So, the whole thing was just a formality.

But an important one.

Because it’s just the latest checkpoint for Harper in his recovery. It’s another day closer to getting back into uniform and helping the Phillies on their quest to get back to the World Series, and perhaps win two more games than last year.

From here forward, the spotlight will become more intense. The questions will be more frequent. We will want to know when he starts hitting off a tee, when he can hit soft toss, take actual batting practice, face live pitching and ultimately get his rehab assignment before he comes back to the Phillies.

And it will still persist from there. When can he start a throwing program? Can he possibly make it back into right field defensively before the season concludes?

Intertwined with all this is how Harper will adjust to the new speed up rules. Harper is notoriously deliberate when he’s at the plate. He likes to take his time between pitches and has a very structured routine. Just go back and look at the entire at bat in the bottom of the eighth of Game 5 of the NLCS against San Diego and imagine that at bat with the new rules:

None of that can happen under the new rules.  Not. One. Pitch.

And while the argument against sapping this drama and athletic theatre from the sport is an argument for another day, it’s still something Harper is going to have to alter upon his return to baseball.

The legendary Jayson Stark of The Athletic had the foresight to ask Harper about it already. It was one of only a couple diversions from the script in the 12 minutes.

“I just got to figure it out, that’s it,” said Harper. “The thing about baseball is, every moment, whether you are pitching or hitting, you need to take a deep breath. We’ve always been the one sport without a clock. That’s the beauty of our game. But, at the same time, that’s how they feel that our game is going to get better and you have to respect it. I think it’s going to evolve as well, though. At some point it will evolve. It will get better with time… that’s funny ‘better with time…’ We’ll see how it works.”

So, there’ll be those questions too.

Harper is well-equipped to handle the attention. He’s been the center of it since he was a teenager, so this is nothing new. But, the one challenge he is facing for the first time is a lengthy recovery process that will have its ups and downs, and the experience of doing it mostly away from his teammates.

That’s always the toughest part. Ask any player who misses significant time, and they tell you the hardest thing is not having the day-to-day with the fellas. Sure, Bryce can hang out here at Spring Training for a bit and get a taste, and yes, eventually he will be in Philly with the team, but there’s going to be a lot of time working with trainers or minor leaguers, or even on his own. It’s in those moments when it’s human nature to let the frustration of a rough day get to you a little bit more, or the desire to finish the long rehab journey faster that creates a setback, or any number of things that can weigh on your mind.

The mental part of this recovery is always the hardest part.

“I like to always look forward and get going,” Harper said. “A lot of things happened to me in the offseason with my elbow and I just had to try to get my mind away from the game. I needed to get back to recovery and make sure my mind was right and my body was right. I try to move forward as best I could and not dwell about what happened.”

To be fair, this answer was to a question about having a chance to go back and watch any of the videos from their dramatic run to the World Series, but Harper melded the two together.

He still has somewhere between 3-4 months to go before he’s actually back in the lineup, and those 3-4 months will be the hardest of them all, mentally. Because he’ll be close. He’ll be able to feel it. Smell it. Taste it – with each passing day.

There’s no doubting Harper has the makeup to get through it – and likely even a little quicker than the conservative Phillies timeline. And it won’t be long before he’s creating more bedlam at the Bank.

That doesn’t mean it will have been just been a matter of time. Time is fleeting – like a 12-minute interview. No, it will have been far more than that. And the rewards, will be just.

Hello, Soto

Gregory Soto finally arrived to Spring Training Thursday after dealing with visa issues that had him stuck in the Dominican Republic for about a month longer than expected.

Soto said he wasn’t sure what the hold up was, but he said he was able to follow the Phillies’ throwing program because he was able to go to their facility in the D.R. to work out – which is about an hour from his home.

Soto was originally slated to play at the World Baseball Classic, but because of the visa delay, had to back out so he could get into camp with the Phillies and play catchup.

He’s one of four guys in the bullpen with closer experience, joining fellow newbie Craig Kimbrel, Seranthony Dominguez, and Jose Alvarado. The Phillies likely will give the majority of the closing opportunities to Dominguez, but the definition of majority being used here is “more than the others” and not “most closing situations.” It’s likely all four guys will be given a chance as Phillies manager Rob Thomson likes to use his bullpen more strategically and match up guys against certain parts of the lineup regardless of the inning.

While some relievers like to have a set role, Soto isn’t one of them.

“I’m just happy to be here because we have a pretty good bullpen,” Soto said through an interpreter. “If they want me to throw in the fifth inning, I’m down for that… I don’t have to have a role. I can pitch in any inning. Wherever they need me, I’ll be ready.”

Soto brings a lot of nasty to the Phillies bullpen. He is a little wild at times, but if pitching coach Caleb Cotham can harness that just a tad to make him “effectively wild” Soto could be lights out – as evidenced in this highlight reel of him pitching last season: