Kyle Harrison is set to make his first start in nearly one month on Aug. 5 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the left-hander says the pitch he has been chasing is still the one that could shape the outing. After a lone rehab start in Grand Chute on July 31, Harrison used the chance to throw his changeup as often as he could and test whether it could become a bigger part of his game.
That matters now because the changeup has been more idea than weapon for much of the season. Harrison has used it only 10% of the time, well behind his four-seamer at 58% and his slurve at 31%, even though he debuted the pitch in spring training with strong results. His season high came on April 26, when he threw it 17 times for a 16.8% usage rate, and he has gone over 10% usage only three times since then.
The rehab outing was not just about getting through innings. It was a low-stakes chance to work the pitch under game conditions after Harrison had already used it for Class High-A Wisconsin last week. He said it was about getting game reps with the changeup, and that he wanted to over-use it in a game setting so he could see it out of the stretch, out of the windup and at full arm speed while selling it like a heater.
That push comes with a problem that has followed him all season. Opponents are batting.273 against Harrison’s changeup and slugging.485 against it, with two home runs in 33 at-bats. He has called it a confidence pitch now, but he has also said the grip is still tricky, especially when the pitch clock is moving and his hand is not fully set. In that rush, he said, he can lose the grip a little.
The physical part of the pitch has been messy too. During spring, Harrison developed a blister on his middle finger after pressing too hard into the ball, and then a second blister near the side of his thumb when his index finger slid off as the ball released. He still has to apply glue to the thumb-side blister so it does not open again, a reminder that the feel he wants is still tied to the hand that throws it. Whether he leans on the changeup against a Pittsburgh lineup that offers him chances to use it against right-handed hitters may be the clearest sign yet of how far the pitch has come. On Aug. 5, the answer comes in the first start back.
