Kyle Harrison is without doubt one of the high pitching prospects in baseball. Drafted eighty fifth total in 2020 out of Harmony, California’s De La Salle Excessive Faculty, the just-turned-21-year-old left-hander is No. 30 on our updated Top 100. Ranked ninth amongst hurlers, Harrison has dominated at two ranges. Presently with the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the Double-A affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, he’s fanned 143 batters and allowed simply 57 hits in 86-and-a-third innings this season. In a phrase, the younger southpaw has been overpowering.
Harrison mentioned his repertoire when Richmond performed in Portland over the weekend.
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David Laurila: To begin, give me a self-scouting report.
Kyle Harrison: “My fastball averages round 94 [mph]. I spin it decently — not too excessive — but it surely’s from a low method angle, so I feel it appears to be like just like the ball has just a little little bit of rise. Then I’ll go to my slider. I’ll form of grip that off the four-seam and actually simply attempt to rip it on the backside of the zone. It’s just a little extra sweepy-ish than a daily slider. I’m making an attempt to make it more durable. I’m capable of get it to 85 typically — that’s form of the place I need it to be — however these are the max-effort ones. It’s normally extra 80-83.
“The changeup I’m enjoying round with now’s a brand new grip. I’m form of splitting the 2 seams there. It’s extra of a one-seam, so I can get just a little bit extra tumble. I’ve been throwing it more durable than I’d like. I’m making an attempt to take just a little velo off to get some higher pace differential.”
Laurila: A lot of pitchers throw one-seam sinkers, however I’m admittedly not too accustomed to one-seam changeups.
Harrison: “Yeah, positively. From my slot — I’m just a little three-quarters — it’s laborious for me to actually keep on high of a changeup. I really feel like simply getting that seam, and splitting that different finger, actually permits me to drag down on the ball. It permits me to get it down within the zone, moderately than having the rise and life that I get from that slot.”
Laurila: I assume it’s your center finger on the seam?
Harrison: “Sure. After which I’m splitting it right here, and actually simply making an attempt to pronate with it.”
Laurila: The finger break up you’re displaying me is just like a Vulcan, however you’re not really gripping and throwing the pitch like a Vulcan.
Harrison: “Proper. It’s extra like a variant of that. I form of realized it via trial and error. It’s a really feel factor. Earlier within the season I used to be doing a four-seam changeup grip, and I’d lose it so much on the arm aspect. This permits me to remain down on it.”
Laurila: Was the grip a suggestion, or did you provide you with it by yourself?
Harrison: “It was instructed, however for essentially the most half it was me wanting to change it up as a result of I used to be getting an excessive amount of life with it.”
Laurila: Who made the suggestion?
Harrison: “Paul Oseguera, our pitching coach right here, talked about that I may get greater up on the seam and break up it just a little bit. We had been speaking after one in all my outings and I advised him that I wasn’t too snug with my changeup grip. We tried this one and threw some in entrance of a TrackMan. It killed quite a lot of vert, really — a pair inches of vertical. It’s cool to have the ability to see that on a TrackMan, to throw a pitch and see simply the way it strikes.”
Laurila: Once you say “kill vert,” you imply that you simply’re getting extra depth?
Harrison: “Sure, and just a little extra horizontal as properly. It’s the one pitch I’m actually engaged on now. I’m looking for that consistency with it.”
Laurila: What’s the story behind your sweepy slider?
Harrison: “That’s form of all the time been with me. It’s all the time been the form of my slider, and as soon as I received into professional ball and began to throw more durable, it received much more sweepy. It’s actually simply my arm slot and the way I’m form of holding it on the aspect. Mainly, I’m coming throughout and ripping it with a agency wrist.”
Laurila: Are you manipulating it in any respect?
Harrison: “Truthfully, I’m simply throwing it and letting it do its factor. I’m simply choosing the spots to start out it, realizing that it’s in all probability going to get a superb quantity of horizontal. I’m getting anyplace from 15 to twenty [inches].”
Laurila: And what about your fastball? You talked about method angle.
Harrison: “I feel that’s the important thing to my fastball. It’s the discharge peak and method angle. You don’t see guys coming from the place I do on a regular basis. I feel with the ability to get low in my legs actually helps out. That’s all the time been the best way I’ve thrown a baseball. Yeah, it’s form of a bizarre factor. I’ve by no means actually tweaked it a lot. I simply throw that means.”
Laurila: When did you study why it was an efficient pitch for you?
Harrison: “I’d say that it was final yr, my first [pitching] in professional ball. I used to be getting swings and misses, and clearly the info and analytics had been good. As soon as that began occurring, I used to be like, ‘Oh, I’ve received a superb pitch. Let’s roll with it and see what else we’ve received.’”
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