Josh Harrison brings a lot to the table, but can he still be considered a spark plug for this Pittsburgh Pirates team?
How could Pittsburgh Pirates fans not enjoy what they saw out of Josh Harrison in the 2014 season?
Every Pittsburgh fan was all about the Hu5tle in 2014. Harrison is certainly an inspiring story. The story of a player that has all of the motivation in the world to succeed, a heart as wide as the Allegheny. The city fell in love with Harrison during that 2014 season, but a 4 year/$27.3 million dollar contract – plus two team options – hangs over his head right now.
While it looked like a smart and economical sign at the time, Harrison has struggled at times over the past two seasons. He battled injuries and had less than encouraging signs at the plate last season. And it all centers around off-speed pitches.
Just Take It Slow
In 2015, it was not unaccustomed to see Harrison be able to stay on a curveball and poke it out into right field. He was well known in 2015 to be a “pesky” hitter at the plate., and he did an excellent job of staying back on his heels and that resulted in him having success versus off-speed pitches. In fact, Harrison had a swing percentage of 68.35 percent on off-speed pitches in 2016 vs. 2015 when he only swung at 62.41 percent.
What does this mean? It means that Harrison was staying away from breaking and slower pitches in 2015 better than in 2016. He was able to read the pitch out of the pitchers hand quicker and more efficiently. Granted, not all off-speed pitches are balls, but a lot of them are temptation pitches that a hitter will see on a 1-2 count, etc.
Another point worth driving home is Harrison’s performance against the curveball, Harrison batted .351 against benders with only three strikeouts coming on the pitch. However, in 2016 Harrison batted .319 against the curveball with eight strikeouts. While neither of these are huge discrepancies, they can help us to paint a bigger picture as to what types of pitches he felt comfortable offering at. The slider also gave Harrison trouble, tabulating 19 strikeouts, the most besides his 26 strikeouts versus the fourseam fastball.
What you will notice in the table above is that Josh had a much harder time in 2016 staying on the breaking ball. The above table is illustrating whiff percentage. The month of August really sticks out here.
Harrison whiffed on around 19 percent of off-speed pitches in August of 2015 vs. 9 percent of off-speed pitches in August of 2016. What does all of this fancy data mean? It means that if Harrison wants to regain his form in 2014 as an All-Star, he must hit the breaking ball better in 2017. It could also mean that a full year to that point with a regular everyday role could have been taxing on the second baseman.
Still Can Be Valuable
Though the Pittsburgh Pirates may yet regret the extension, there is still some value to be wrung from Harrison.
He is a player that embodies the image of what most Pirates fans want from their team. He is hard working, committed and has a strong desire to win. He plays a solid second base with above-average range. The club obviously felt that Harrison had enough talent to allow them to feel comfortable in trading away Neil Walker. Though he has warts in his game, Harrison does still hold some value, provided he can at least start back towards his 2014 form.
What Do YOU Think?
We want to take the temperature of Pittsburgh Pirates fans on this topic. So vote in our poll!
In simple terms, do/should the Pittsburgh Pirates regret the Josh Harrison extension?
— Jason Rollison (@jrollisonpgh) March 21, 2017
Image Credit – Daniel Decker Photography
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