--- description: The Washington Nationals' brazen left fielder is set to go under the knife this week to repair a torn ligament in his hand title: MLB: Nationals' Bryce Harper Out for Two Months Following Thumb Injury image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1faae0e182fa2559/69868ce855a8590d8aa8090b/harper.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Baseball](/tag/baseball/) ## Baseball Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper Undergoes Thumb Surgery by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2014 7:35 AM CUT  Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper runs down first base after hitting a three-run triple in the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Nationals Park Washington Nationals left fielder Bryce Harper runs down first base after hitting a three-run triple in the third inning against the San Diego Padres at Nationals ParkUSA Today Sports —Reuters by [David Stout](/author/david-stout/) ## David Stout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 29, 2014 7:35 AM CUT Major League Baseball All-Star Bryce Harper will [undergo surgery](http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/%5F/id/10853575/bryce-harper-washington-nationals-torn-thumb-ligament "undefined") on his left thumb to treat a torn ulnar collateral ligament on Tuesday. The 21-year-old left fielder is expected to spend at least two months on the disabled list following the operation. Harper injured his left hand after sliding headfirst into third during a game against the San Diego Padres in the nation’s capital on Friday. Harper says he hopes to miss no more than 15 games because of the injury. In 2013, the left fielder missed two months of the season after [slamming into Dodger Stadium’s outfield](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nr4et%5FIxi0M "undefined") wall face-first. “Guys slide in headfirst all the time,” Nationals manager Matt Williams told [MLB.com](http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/was/nationals-outfielder-bryce-harper-to-undergo-surgery-to-repair-torn-ligament-in-left-thumb?ymd=20140428&content%5Fid=73660666&vkey=news%5Fwas "undefined") after Friday’s game. “Just so happens that he got his thumb in an awkward position. You can’t question that. You can’t question the way the kid plays the game. He plays the game hard.” On Sunday, Harper remained unapologetic about deciding to slide headfirst into third during his three-run triple. “It’s part of baseball,” [said](http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/bryce-harper-washington-nationals-thumb-surgery-mlb "undefined") Harper. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/80473/bryce-harper-surgery-washington-nationals/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/80473/bryce-harper-surgery-washington-nationals/"},"headline":"Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper Undergoes Thumb Surgery","datePublished":"2014-04-29T07:35:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:32:56.339Z","description":"The Washington Nationals' 21-year-old left fielder will go under the knife to repair a torn ligament, an injury that occurred while sliding headfirst into third during a game last week and that is expected to sideline him for at least two months","url":"https://time.com/80473/bryce-harper-surgery-washington-nationals/","keywords":["Baseball","MLB"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1faae0e182fa2559/69868ce855a8590d8aa8090b/harper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"David Stout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/david-stout/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1faae0e182fa2559/69868ce855a8590d8aa8090b/harper.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"MLB: San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals","caption":"MLB: San Diego Padres at Washington Nationals","creditText":"USA Today Sports —Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/baseball/","name":"Baseball"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/80473/bryce-harper-surgery-washington-nationals/","name":"Washington Nationals' Bryce Harper Undergoes Thumb Surgery"}}]}] ```