MIAMI _ Baby Harper is on his way.
Bryce Harper did not fly with the Phillies this weekend to Miami. He returned home to be with his wife, Kayla, as she gives birth to the couple's son.
Harper was placed by the Phillies on the paternity list before Friday's series opener against the Marlins. He can stay on the list for three days.
His roster spot this weekend will be filled by Maikel Franco, who returns from Triple-A after being demoted last month.
The Phillies will have to take care of the last-place Marlins without Harper, who has a 1.029 OPS in August and five homers in his last seven games.
The Harpers announced Kayla's pregnancy in April with an Instagram post taken at Race Street Pier shortly after Harper's first game with the Phillies. "Philly raised little man will be," Harper wrote.
"It's very cool to become a dad now and know what he sacrificed for me and to be able to put it into myself and hopefully teach my son the right way," he said. "That's what I want to do.
"If I can just take little things that he did for me and pass that along to my kid, I think my kid will hopefully grow up with the same mentality that I did. Giving a crap about what you do. It's the little things: You give a crap, you give back, and you understand that giving back is one of the greatest opportunities in life."
