The Philadelphia Phillies are reportedly hoping to have superstar outfielder Bryce Harper back in the lineup by the start of May after he underwent offseason Tommy John surgery.

According to Matt Gelb of The Athletic, the Phillies view Harper being back in action by the first weekend in May or soon after as a "plausible scenario."

Harper played through a torn ulnar collateral ligament for much of the 2022 season, which limited him to serving as the designated hitter. Despite the injury, he was a key figure in the Phillies reaching the World Series, where they fell to the Houston Astros.

Per Gelb, a Tommy John surgery study found that if Harper is indeed able to return six months after undergoing the procedure, it would be less than half the usual recovery time and one of the fastest recoveries ever from Tommy John surgery by a baseball player.

Tommy John surgery is most common in pitchers, however, and since throwing the baseball is their entire livelihood, there is no real way to speed up the recovery process.

As for Harper, the return process could be expedited by keeping out of the field for the most part and primarily utilizing him as a DH.

The 30-year-old Harper is a 12th-year MLB player in the midst of his fifth season with the Phillies after signing as a free agent following the 2018 campaign.

Harper was an All-Star in six of his seven seasons with the Washington Nationals and won the National League MVP Award in 2015 when he hit .330 with 42 home runs and 99 RBI.

While Harper was productive over his first few seasons in Philly, it didn't initially translate to team success.

Even with Harper winning his second NL MVP Award in 2021 by virtue of hitting .309 with 35 homers and 84 RBI, the Phillies missed the playoffs in each of his first three seasons.

They finally reached the playoffs last season as a wild card, though, going 87-75 in the highly competitive NL East.

Harper was limited to 99 games because of injury, but he played well when available, hitting .286 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI.

He was also a huge contributor during their Cinderella playoff run to the World Series, hitting .349 with six home runs and 13 RBI.

There is little doubt that the Phillies have missed their star slugger during the early part of the 2023 season, as they are off to an 8-12 start, placing them in fourth place in the NL East, 6.5 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves.

It also hasn't helped that the Phillies lost power-hitting first baseman Rhys Hoskins for the season during spring training when he suffered a torn ACL.

Philadelphia still has a deep and talented lineup, but it becomes far more dangerous with an elite player such as Harper in the middle.

While the Phillies clearly don't want to rush Harper back and risk further injury, the target timeframe for his return seems to be the home series against the Boston Red Sox from May 5 through May 7.