Padres Blake Snell received Bryce Harper’s forgiveness for unintentional injury [video]

San Diego Padres pitcher Blake Snell garnered a lot of negative attention Saturday night. He struck Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper in the thumb with a 97 mph pitch, which resulted in a fracture.

Despite the controversy and an angry appearance from Harper, Snell didn’t intentionally strike Harper.

"“He knows how I feel. Obviously, I felt terrible hitting him. I just don’t do that, and he knows that. We’ve talked; we’ve handled it. It was never anything. It’s just emotional. He plays with a lot of passion, and I can understand why he’d be upset. I’m just as upset as he is. I hit him; I don’t hit people. I just hope he recovers quickly and gets back out there and continues to compete.” -Blake Snell, via MLB.com"

Bryce Harper forgave Padres pitcher Blake Snell for fracturing his thumb

Harper could potentially be out for the rest of the season with a fractured thumb. However, he’s still shown class in immediately forgiving Snell during the game.

Snell’s had a tough start to the season, but Padres manager Bob Melvin seems to have hope in his performance despite injuring Harper.

"“I thought tonight was the day he was going to roll. He just had one off inning — the leadoff homer, and they nicked him up for a couple runs. But I think he’s really close because today’s stuff was as good as we’ve seen all year.” -Bob Melvin, via MLB.com"

The Phillies, however, will likely face a lot of trouble with Harper out. They’ve been lucky to keep him in the lineup as long as they have while healing a torn UCL.

Harper provides a lot of power in the lineup and has the highest wins above replacement (2.7). He was also leading the All-Star vote for designated hitter by nearly half a million.