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Boras calls for improvements to slick bases after Harper's injury

Michael Owens / USA TODAY Sports

As far as prominent agent Scott Boras is concerned, Bryce Harper's knee injury could have been very easily avoided.

Boras, who represents Harper, sounded off on the condition of the wet bases during Saturday night's game at Nationals Park. The game began at 10 p.m. ET following a three-hour rain delay, leaving the bases slick with water by the time the first pitch was thrown. It led to Harper slipping on first base, resulting in the superstar sustaining a "significant bone bruise" in his left knee.

Boras believes that it's time for MLB to step up and protect players from these kinds of injuries on hard bases that become wet in inclement weather.

"We go to great lengths with the soil to make sure it's not wet and there are drying agents on the ground,'' Boras told ESPN's Jerry Crasnick. "I don't know what technology we apply or the studies that have been done on the composition of having a wet base. That's certainly something we need to look into. This injury was directly related to inclement weather and a player putting his cleat on the bag and it slipping across because the surface was slick.

"In the NBA, when a player hits the floor and there's perspiration on the floor, they clean it up immediately so the surface isn't slick. In baseball, we have no one cleaning the bags between innings during inclement weather. Is there observation as the game goes where they would stop and make sure the bag is dry? We don't do that. We don't take measures like that for player safety that could easily be accomplished by the grounds crew and the umpires' observations.''

Harper, who likened the moment of his injury to slipping in the shower, believes the wet bases are indeed a problem in baseball.

"I don't like wet bases," he told reporters Sunday, according to ESPN's Coley Harvey. "(But) I don't think anything can change."

Although Harper's injury was serious enough that he had to be carried off the field, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said Sunday that he expects the 24-year-old to return before the end of this season.

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