New Triple-A Worcester pitcher Kyle Harrison excited for fresh start with the Boston Red Sox
The 23-year-old left-hander, who was one of four players acquired by the Boston Red Sox in the blockbuster trade that sent Rafael Devers to San Francisco, tossed roughly 50 pitches to a trio of teammates in a live practice session at Polar Park ahead of Triple-A Worcester's 10-6 loss to the Buffalo Bisons.
Harrison, who hadn't pitched in a game since being dealt to the Red Sox, tried out a few new pitches — including a cutter and sinker — under the watchful eye of Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow. Harrison is currently working on revamping his repertoire before joining the WooSox starting rotation next week.
'Definitely a cool learning experience. (I was) able to try a couple of new pitches today and just felt good to get out there and get back in the swing of things,' said Harrison, who is from San Jose, California. 'And my body was feeling great. So excited for the next step.'
Although that next step hasn't exactly been outlined yet, WooSox manager Chad Tracy said his new left-handed pitcher will find a spot in Worcester's rotation during the upcoming road trip to face Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
While Harrison served as a hybrid reliever/starter for the Giants this year, the Red Sox see the former third-round selection (No. 85 overall, 2020) of San Francisco as a starting pitcher moving forward.
Hence the emphasis on improving his 'arsenal' — which features a 'unique fastball that's going to be his bread and butter,' according to Red Sox director of pitching Justin Williard.
'Really excited to build the kind of arsenal around that (fastball) making, again, that the main event,' Williard added. 'And then what are the pitches he needs to have (to be supplemental) to that fastball?'
'If he can get his secondary stuff in the zone at twice the rate he's doing it, he's going to be incredibly successful,' said Red Sox senior director of player development Brian Abraham.
Harrison was already tinkering with a cutter and sinker before last week's trade.
The former No. 1 prospect of the Giants felt a bit 'boxed in' with his three-pitch mix of fastball, changeup and slurve with San Francisco.
'This will give me just a chance to mix it up with hitters, not have them jump on the fastball early in counts and add a little sink or a little cut to keep them off the heater and ultimately put them away with that thing,' Harrison said. 'So it was kind of like a full-circle moment that it's going to be cool to learn and develop these pitches.'
The 6-foot-2, 209-pound southpaw entered 2024 ranked by MLB.com as baseball's No. 23 overall prospect. Harrison made his major league debut in 2023 (making seven starts) and then recorded 24 starts with a 4.56 ERA in 2024 for the Giants
Harrison has a 4.48 ERA with 178 strikeouts in 39 career major league games (35 starts) and adds a power arm — that averaged 95.1 mph on his fastball this season and hit that mark in his pitching session on Saturday — to the Red Sox' 40-man roster.
'It's a live arm,' Tracy said. 'You can see it when he's out there. It's exciting.'
'The returns have been really good so far,' Abraham said.
As Harrison looks to return to the mound for a real game in the coming week with a new organization that's located more than 3,000 miles from his hometown team, the newest WooSox pitcher is calling this a fresh start with the Red Sox.
'That's how I'm treating it — putting the past behind me but taking the stuff that I've learned. I'm going to try to apply it to my game to the best of my ability and just go out there and have fun,' Harrison said. 'So just excited. Excited to embrace this opportunity and go out there and just treat it like it's just another day of baseball.
'We're just excited to go out there and show these people what I can do,' Harrison said.
—Contact Tommy Cassell at tcassell@telegram.com. Follow him on X @tommycassell44.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Kyle Harrison excited for fresh start with Boston Red Sox organization
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