Red Sox were patient with Kyle Harrison — and he with them; In Game No. 155, it paid off

TAMPA — When the Red Sox shipped Rafael Devers to the San Francisco Giants in mid-June, the primary return piece was lefthanded starter Kyle Harrison.

But as highly valued as Harrison was for the Red Sox, they weren’t about to rush him to the big leagues. Instead, he got sent to Worcester, to work on a couple of pitches as well as his efficiency.

In September, locked in a playoff race, the Sox finally promoted Harrison. He appeared in relief in the final game of the last road trip….and then didn’t pitch again until Saturday night, a layoff of 10 days.

Making his first start for the Sox Saturday, Harrison made the wait worthwhile. He pitched six strong innings and allowed just one run in a 6-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays.

“Amazing, amazing,” gushed Alex Cora. “Strike-throwing, the fastball is legit and when he’s around the zone, he’s tough to hit. He was under control.”

The start by Harrison was the fourth quality outingh this month for the Red Sox from a young lefties who didn’t get make it to the big leagues until the final month of the season. (Payton Tolle and Connell Early are the other two) With injuries thinning out the team’s depth, they were promoted by necessity and delivered.

“In the offseason, a lot of people talked about the Big Three (Marcelo Mayer, Kristian Campbell and Roman Anthony) and position players,” said Cora, “but we have some good arms, too. They’ve come up here and done their jobs. For the year, we’ve been banged up but the kids, they come here and they just pitch, man. They’re not scared of the situation and today was a big one.”

Harrison allowed just four hits and walked two while fanning five in his six innings of work.

“I think first and foremost, it was (all about) getting ahead and attacking the zone,” said Harrison.

The lefty said the start was especially satisfying after spending more than two and a half months in the Red Sox’ pitching lab in Worcester.

“It was cool. It was cool to see all the work pay off,” he said. “I’d say the work I had with the changeup, cutter and slurve, sinker, using those against lefties and getting those reps at Triple A was huge for me. To go out there and be able to show them today and have some success is definitely an encouraging sign.”

In the last week and a half, Harrison had to find opportunities to keep active and maintain his arm strength as the Red Sox manipulated the schedule and dealt with some off-days.

“I’d say it was just staying ready throughout the week,” he said. “I didn’t really know what they needed from me. I was just expecting to be ready for whatever they need. Keeping up on the workouts, shoulder stuff and grinding it out.”

He pitched well enough that, even with his pitch count climbing, he got sent back out for the sixth. The first two hitters reached against him, but he dug in and retired his final three hitters of the night, stranding both baserunners.

“I’m glad they had the confidence in me,” said Harrison, “and I was glad that I was able to deliver in that moment.”

More Red Sox coverage

Read the original article on MassLive. Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Red Sox were patient with Kyle Harrison — and he with them; In Game No. 155, it paid off

Tags: