The evolution of Kyle Harrison
It probably wasn't Plan A. That would have been having Joe Ryan pitch in a Red Sox uniform. And perhaps it wasn't even Plan B. Who would have blamed them? The security of knowing a veteran like Merrill Kelly was on your side in the postseason seems like a pretty good idea.
Whatever the case. What the Red Sox have landed with heading into the regular season's final week seems like a pretty good plan.
Without the addition of any no-doubt-about-it postseason starter at the trade deadline, and the lack of reliability from newly-acquired Dustin May, Craig Breslow and Co. have turned to a group of young pitchers to save the day.
The most recent participant? Kyle Harrison.
While the 24-year-old lefty starter exceeded rookie limits while pitching for the Giants, he is certainly new to the Red Sox. And this fresh start with this team has been just what the doctor ordered for both parties. That fact was put on display Saturday night when Harrison helped lead the Sox to a pivotal 6-3 win over the Rays at Steinbrenner Field.
Following up his three shutout innings of relief in his first outing as a Red Sox, Harrison used a fastball-heavy arsenal to hold Tampa Bay to just one run over six innings.
"Amazing," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters (including MLB.com) regarding Harrison. "His strike-throwing with the fastball is legit. And when he's around the zone, he's tough to hit. He was under control."
First, it was Payton Tolle, who now finds himself as a potential high-leverage, multi-inning reliever. Then there was Connelly Early, another lefty whose historic start has included giving up just one run while striking out 18 over 10 1/3 innings.
And now, there's Harrison.
"It's just been me getting comfortable down in Triple-A with this pitch mix and just trying to get comfortable and ultimately use it on big league hitters and see how it plays," said Harrison, who is now using a sinker, cutter and changeup after using just three pitches in San Francisco.
He added when talking to WEEI.com after his first appearance, "Breslow talked to me the second I got traded and said, 'Hey, we want you to get comfortable here first. We have some new ideas coming your way.' At the time, I was like, 'What does that mean?' But looking back at it, it was a good developmental phase. If they want to teach me new pitches, I don't think it's the best idea to just throw me out there."
The strategy has worked out, not only for Harrison but for the other two, as well.
The tests, however, are only going to get more difficult.
With the first three in the Red Sox's rotation - Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello, and Garrett Crochet - slated to start the games in Toronto, it lines up Harrison and Early for potentially pivotal matchups vs. Detroit in the final weekend of the regular season.
As it stands now, the Red Sox sit one game up on both Houston and Cleveland, sitting in the wild card's second spot. They are two in back of the Yankees for the wild card's top spot, and four out of the division lead, which Toronto holds.
Thanks to the Guardians' crazy recent run, winning 15 of their last 16 games, the Tigers are now in the convoluted conversation, residing just one game ahead of Cleveland in the American League Central, owning the same record (85-70) as the Red Sox.
In terms of tiebreakers, this is what the Red Sox are facing ...
- They would have to sweep the Tigers to have a chance to own the tiebreaker against Detroit, having lost the first three meetings at Comerica Park. If that does happen, the Sox would need the Tigers to lose more than they win against the Twins and Guardians this week to gain the edge in the second tiebreaker, division record.
- The Sox own the tiebreaker over Cleveland, Houston and the Yankees, but don't vs. Toronto.
- The tiebreaker against Seattle still has yet to be defined, with the Sox having split the six games vs. the Mariners. Seattle currently has a 33-18 intradivision record with one left (against Houston), while the Red Sox sit at 30-18, with four to play.
Whether or not the Red Sox planned it this way, this starting rotation solution is playing out pretty favorably for them. The guys they didn't get, after all, almost all recently took downturns. Joe Ryan allowed five runs over five innings in a loss to Cleveland. Kelly gave up six runs in just three innings vs. Houston. Charlie Morton lasted just 1 1/3 innings while surrendering six runs against Atlanta. And even the perceived star of the deadline, Kansas City's Ryan Bergert, suffered through his first bad start with his new team, giving up eight runs in 3 1/3 innings, also against the Guardians.
In fact, other than Shane Bieber, who has been rock-solid in his six starts for Toronto, the best starting pitching additions for the final few months have come from the minor leagues. Just ask the Mets, whose season has been somewhat saved by the promotion of Nolan McLean. And, of course, the Red Sox.
"It's awesome," Harrison told reporters (including MLB.com). "And that's what you hope for. I'm just glad they had the confidence in me, and I was glad that I was able to deliver in that moment."