Kyle Harrison is Ready for What Comes Next
The left-hander's Double A debut is set for tonight
Photo Credit: Trey Wilson | Richmond Flying Squirrels
“I think I was a late bloomer,” Kyle Harrison says when asked to reflect upon the changes that took him from a somewhat overlooked member of the 2020 high school draft class to one of just three pitchers his age in Double A, and one of the shooting stars of the prospect world. “I was skinny. I was a skinny kid.” My high school coach would tell you, I was in the weight room every day. I mean, I was grinding, you know, with all the other kids…but I just didn’t see the results.”
Grinding away in the weight room is a big part of the baseball program at De La Salle High School. Spartans Head Coach David Jeans, together with his training coordinator, Mark Wine, puts together a four-year weight training program for kids. “We learn how to lift as Freshman, and our Sophomore year, we get better at it where our technique is good and we start building intent. And usually the last two years kids put on some serious gains.” Usually. For Kyle, seeing those muscle gains didn’t come quite as readily as he might have hoped.
Oh, he saw some gains. His velocity ticked up gradually, from 81 as a high school freshman, tipping over into the low 91-93 range by the time his career ended. But unlike many of the high school arms of his class (Mick Abel, who went 15th overall to Philadelphia, Justin Lange or Jared Jones, who went at the top of the 2nd), he wasn’t exactly tickling triple digits with his heater.
But with nothing to do during the COVID shutdown summer of 2020, Harrison’s daily work in the weight room focusing on his strength did finally start to see some gains, and the muscle mass began to build up — and with it, a sudden spike in velocity. When Harrison showed up at the Giants’ fall instructional league, he was the talk of the camp, with a fastball that had taken a clear step forward, and a sharpness to all of his offerings. Richmond Pitching Coach Paul Oseguera, who’s known and worked with Harrison since the lefty was a sophomore in high school, remembers thinking “this is not the same kid he was back in high school,” while watching Harrison pitch at Instructs.”He’s stronger, bigger — and you see those results out on the field.” Harrison, the late bloomer, laughs about the sudden development spurt now. “It’s crazy how much you can grow [in a short time].”
While the velo spike was certainly enjoyable — and raised both eyebrows and Harrison’s profile all around the game — at least in the short term, it also came with a cost. “Last year, that was my first full year throwing hard and my body was flying all over the place, not necessarily knowing where the ball was going at all times.” After having spent his baseball life building a reputation as a strike thrower, suddenly he was the wild child — the guy with unhittable stuff who didn’t know where it was going.
“That was a battle with myself definitely. Mentally, it was something that I was just kind of struggling with. I had never really gone through that control thing.” While his performance on the field was often dominant, he was also a 19-year-old kid dealing with a changing body that he didn’t always know how to control. His low arm-slot, which gives him such a unique look for opposing hitters, would sometimes fall too low, causing his stuff to flatten out, and he’d spend bullpen after bullpen searching for the slot that felt right. For all that, the performance never wavered — he had one of the best statistical seasons of any pitcher in the minors. “That’s the thing: the numbers say one thing, but you know, the body could say another.”
But as 19 as turned to 20, his sense of his body has grown. He came into the 2022 season determined to be a better strike thrower, and despite rough weather conditions in the Pacific Northwest— making consistency maddeningly difficult — he’s been accomplishing just that. Over his seven starts with Eugene, Harrison walked just 10 batters, cutting his walk rate from nearly 12% in San Jose to a much more manageable 8.5%. More than that, he’s felt more in control of his mechanics this year. “I have a lot of cues that I go off of. And I think I have more feel for my body this year. I just feel more mature. That’s one word I would use for my delivery. Mature.”
“I think if anything, he’s just learning more about his delivery,” Oseguera says, “learning how he can be more consistent with the delivery. He just has such better repeatability with it than I’ve seen before. And I think the numbers show that as well.” For Harrison, while having improved fastball command has been a crucial part of his development this year, his dominance at High A Eugene also demonstrated an improved mental approach to the game. “Having that mental concentration to take each pitch like it’s my last, that’s something that I’ve really been trying to do — focus on each pitch and not let up. So that’s what I was doing [in Eugene] — I wasn’t letting up there. And I’m going to try to do the same here.”
While much has changed for Harrison over the last two years, for Oseguera, the things that haven’t changed with Harrison might be even more critical. “The one thing that has been consistent is his maturity and his approach, and just how accountable he keeps himself to his training. That’s one of those things that sticks.”
That sense of accountability and dedication has put Harrison on a fast track to success that’s comparable to one of the legends of recent Giants’ history: Madison Bumgarner. MadBum followed an extraordinary debut season at 18 by making just five appearances in High A before vaulting up to Double A at age 19. Harrison is a year older than Bumgarner was at the same levels, but he’s matching that other lefty almost start for start otherwise. Harrison took just seven starts at High A to push the promotion to the upper minors. For Bumgarner, that season ended up with him making his big league debut in September. Has Harrison thought about the comparisons? “You can’t really compare me to someone like that, with all of his accomplishments and everything he’s done for the Giants. I mean, it’s cool to hear, but at the same time, you know, it doesn’t really mean anything.” But surely he must have thoughts about the accelerated timeline he’s on? “Yeah definitely. Definitely thoughts. But you know, for the most part I’m just focused on getting better each day, so I can be great once I get there.”
The extraordinary mind of the successful athlete — control what you can control, focus on the here and now. Keep your mind on the micro accomplishments, and the macro accomplishments will take care of themselves. Easy to say, but incredibly difficult to pull off, demanding incredible discipline and concentration to accomplish.
Manager Dennis Pelfrey, however, can afford to take a slightly broader perspective. He knows that adding a talent of Harrison’s stature to a pitching staff that has suffered some slings and arrows of late has real impact. “It’s like an adrenaline shot, basically, you know, it’s like an energy drink I think, or your morning cup of coffee. I think it is one of those things that really just rejuvenates guys to get a guy like Harrison coming in here. I think it rejuvenates the offense a little bit too. Everybody.”
Certainly there’s been a buzz in the air at the Diamond this week, as fans look forward to The Debut on Friday night — at least, so long as that familiar foe, weather, cooperates (chances are high for thunder storms in the Richmond area tonight). One longtime season ticket holder has already made inquiries to get the official scorecard from Harrison’s first game. Presales are building. There’s a crackling sense of anticipation everywhere in Squirrels Land.
Harrison is focusing on the challenges. “I think just re-establishing my command, being able to throw everything for a strike. Throwing all my pitches in different counts, which I’m probably going to have to do at this level. Honestly, I expect to go out there and just keep doing the same things I’ve been doing. That’s just the way I’m going to look at it and the way I’m going to go after it Friday. I’m just happy to be here and glad the Giants have that much faith in me and ready to get going.”
Of course, that “happy to be here” and “controlling what you can control” only lasts until the competition begins. Then it’s all about winning. “I hate to lose. I know that when you make mistakes, you gotta learn from it. But at the end of the day, I always want to win and I’m always gonna push myself to be the best version of myself, and I’m gonna be hard on myself. That’s just how I am.”
That much hasn’t changed. Kyle Harrison has focused on winning as long as he’s been playing the game. “The biggest thing the Giants fans are gonna get out of Kyle is that he’s a winner,” Coach Jeans says. “First and foremost he’s a winner.”
The curtain goes up, the anticipation builds. A new chapter in what is turning into an incredible Giants story is about to begin…
Great story on Kyle as we’ve all been looking forward to tonight. I’m hoping you’re able to do a story on the hottest but maybe most mysterious player in the system Vaun Brown. First time I saw him a month ago, going into the game I thought he was a fill in player but by the end of the game my thought was he could be the most dynamic player in the system.
Good stuff - thanks for putting this together. Hopefully there will be a similar post in the future on Trevor McDonald.😊