Phillies place Harper on IL with left forearm contusion

The Philadelphia Phillies placed outfielder Bryce Harper on the 10-day injured list with a left forearm contusion on Tuesday.

The move is retroactive to May 23.

Harper sat out the Phillies' last two games. Manager Joe Girardi previously insisted that sitting his star outfielder had nothing to do with an injury.

"I went to bed last night, woke up this morning and I said, 'You know what? I'm going to give him another day,'" Girardi said on Monday, according to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. "That's the reason."

But after Harper landed on the IL, Girardi changed his tune. The skipper admitted he lied to reporters about his star player's status for several days to try and gain a competitive advantage on the Phillies' opponents, according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

The 28-year-old hurt his left arm during a scary moment last month where he was hit by a pitch from St. Louis Cardinals reliever Genesis Cabrera. He's also been battling a sore right shoulder for most of May.

Harper struggled to a .211/.318/.316 slash line with one home run and three RBIs since returning to the Phillies' lineup on May 2.

The Phillies reinstated outfielder Roman Quinn from the 10-day IL in a corresponding move.