Stats — WTM — Minor League Splits
The unseen component of the Tom Gorzelanny trade, Harrison’s a very interesting hitting prospect. He spent most of 2009 in Peoria, the Cubs affiliate in the Midwest League (on par with West Virginia in the Sally League). There, he hit .337/.377/.479 with just 16 walks and 25 strikeouts in 335 PAs. So he swings at everything and puts his bat on just about all of it. He did struggle with Lynchburg after being traded to the Pirates’ system and he was a bit old for the Midwest League (he’s 23 after being drafted as a senior in 2006), but his “hit everything” profile is kind of unique. 2010 is a big year for him as a prospect; if he can’t recover from his struggles in Lynchburg and do something interesting in Double-A, he’s probably not that much of a prospect going forward.
July 2010 Update: Not much has changed since I last wrote about Harrison. He doesn’t walk or strikeout much (22 BBs, 28 Ks in his first 350 PAs this year) and his profile is very batting average driven, but he does seem capable of hitting for a high average and becoming a useful utility player in the future. He’s only got one homer this year, but he’s suddenly a doubles machine with 24, only four less than he had all of last year, so maybe his power is developing a bit. Like Chambers, worth keeping an eye on.
