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Will Harris (baseball)

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For the baseball outfielder, see Willie Harris. For other sportsmen of this name, see William Harris (disambiguation).

Will Harris
Harris with the Houston Astros in 2015
Pitcher
Born: (1984-08-28) August 28, 1984 (age 40)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Batted: Right
Threw: Right
MLB debut
August 13, 2012, for the Colorado Rockies
Last MLB appearance
May 22, 2021, for the Washington Nationals
MLB statistics
Win–loss record23–20
Earned run average2.94
Strikeouts452
Teams
Career highlights and awards

William Taylor Harris (born August 28, 1984) is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Colorado Rockies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Houston Astros and Washington Nationals. He made his major league debut in 2012.

From Houston, Texas, Harris played college baseball for Louisiana State University (LSU). The Rockies selected him in the ninth round of the 2006 MLB draft.

As a member of the Astros, Harris was named an American League All-Star in 2016, won the 2017 World Series, and, in 2019, pitched in a combined no-hitter and an immaculate inning.

Early life

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Harris played baseball at Slidell High School in Slidell, Louisiana. He attended Louisiana State University (LSU) and played collegiate baseball for LSU Tigers.[1] In 2004, he played collegiate summer baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox.[2][3]

Professional career

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Colorado Rockies

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The Colorado Rockies selected Harris in the ninth round of the 2006 Major League Baseball draft. Harris made his professional debut with the Low-A Tri-City Dust Devils. In 2007, Harris played for the Single-A Asheville Tourists, recording a stellar 1.32 ERA in 38 appearances. The next year he played for the High-A Modesto Nuts, posting a 2.77 ERA in 49 games for the team. He only appeared in 1 game in 2009, for Tri-City, and did not play at all in 2010. In 2011, Harris returned to Modesto, registering a3-2 record and 5.55 ERA in 33 appearances. To begin the 2012 season, Harris split the year between the Double-A Tulsa Drillers and the Triple-A Colorado Springs Sky Sox, posting a 1.02 ERA in Colorado Springs and a 2.62 ERA in Tulsa.[4]

Harris was promoted to the majors for the first time on August 11, 2012.[5] He made his major league debut the next day, allowing 3 earned runs in 1.0 inning of work against the Milwaukee Brewers. He finished his rookie season with an unsightly 8.15 ERA across 20 appearances. On March 29, 2013, Harris was designated for assignment by the Rockies.[6]

Arizona Diamondbacks

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On April 3, 2013, Harris was claimed off waivers by the Oakland Athletics.[7] The Arizona Diamondbacks claimed Harris off waivers from the Athletics three days later.[8] In 61 appearances for Arizona in 2013, Harris recorded a 2.91 ERA with 53 strikeouts in 52.2 innings of work. The next year, Harris split the year between the Triple-A Reno Aces and Arizona, posting a superb 0.99 ERA in Reno, but a less sightly 4.34 ERA in 29 appearances for the big league club.

Houston Astros

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On November 3, 2014, Harris was claimed off waivers by the Houston Astros.[9] Harris appeared in 68 games in 2015, pitching to a 5–5 record and 1.90 ERA with 68 strikeouts.[10] Harris was invited to his first MLB All-Star Game in 2016,[11] and finished that season with an ERA of 2.25 in 66 appearances and 12 saves.[10]

The following season, Harris was limited to 46 games during the regular season due to injury, posting a 2.98 ERA. He appeared in six games in the 2017 postseason. In a combined total of four innings, he allowed six hits and one run. The Astros won the 2017 World Series, the first-ever World Series victory for the franchise,[12] and World Series championship earned for Harris as well.

In 2018, Harris pitched in 61 games, going 5–3 with an ERA of 3.49.[10] On August 3, 2019, Harris worked in relief in a combined no-hitter of the Seattle Mariners. The final score was 9–0.[13] Harris pitched an immaculate inning in relief in the eighth inning versus the Los Angeles Angels on September 27, 2019.[14] During the 2019 regular season, he was 4–1 with four saves and a 1.50 ERA; over 68 relief appearances, he pitched 60 innings and struck out 62 batters.[10] He set two single-season relief pitching franchise records in 2019—for ERA, and for inherited runners strand rate (97.7%).[15] In Game 3 of the World Series, Harris entered the bottom of the sixth inning versus the Washington Nationals with one out and two runners aboard. He proceeded to strand both runners and retire the side the following inning for a season-high five outs recorded on the way to a 4–1 Astros win.[16] However, he surrendered the go-ahead home run to Howie Kendrick in Game 7 as the Nationals prevailed and won the World Series.[17] He became a free agent following the season.

Washington Nationals

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On January 3, 2020, the Washington Nationals announced they had signed Harris to a three-year guaranteed contract reportedly worth $24 million.[18] Harris could not replicate his 2019 success with Houston in 2020, but still had a solid season with Washington, registering a 3.06 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 172⁄3 innings of work.[19]

On May 30, 2021, it was announced that Harris would undergo surgery to address thoracic outlet syndrome, likely ending his 2021 season.[20] He was placed on the 60-day injured list on June 12.[21] In eight games for the Nationals, Harris struggled to a 9.00 ERA.

Harris ran into a setback in his recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome during Spring Training in 2022 and was shut down. Another surgery was required to remove scar tissue that had built up in his arm. On March 31, 2022, Harris officially underwent right pectoral surgery. He was placed on the 60-day injured list to begin the season on April 7, he ended up missing the entire season.[22] He became a free agent following the season.

Retirement

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On February 10, 2023, Harris' wife, Caroline, posted a video on Instagram mentioning that he had retired from baseball after nearly a decade in MLB.[23]

Scouting report

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Harris throws three pitches — a four-seam fastball in the mid 90s, a cutter in the low 90's, and a curveball in the upper 70s.[24]

Personal life

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Harris has one older brother, Clay, and one younger brother, Dylan. Clay was an infielder at LSU from 2002 through 2005,[25] and played in the Philadelphia Phillies' minor league system.

Harris and his wife Caroline have a son and a daughter and reside in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.[26]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Smith: Will Harris too valuable to be underrated for Astros, A.J. Hinch". October 27, 2019.
  2. ^ "Major League Baseball Players From the Cape Cod League" (PDF). capecodbaseball.org. Retrieved September 25, 2019.
  3. ^ "2004 Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox". thebaseballcube.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  4. ^ "Will Harris Minor Leagues Statistics & History".
  5. ^ "Rockies select contract of RHP Will Harris to Major League Roster". MLB.com. August 11, 2012. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  6. ^ "Will Harris Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com.
  7. ^ "A's claim RHP Will Harris off waivers from Colorado". MLB.com. April 3, 2013. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  8. ^ "A's Reinstate Colón from Suspended List; Option Straily to Sacramento". MLB.com. April 6, 2013. Archived from the original on November 4, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  9. ^ "Astros claim pitcher Harris from Arizona". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 3, 2014. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  10. ^ a b c d "Will Harris stats". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 11, 2019.
  11. ^ Dunsmore, Ryan (July 5, 2016). "Astros closer Will Harris selected to the 2016 All-Star Game". Crawfish Boses. Retrieved July 6, 2016.
  12. ^ McTaggart, Brian; Gurnick, Ken. "Houston Astros win 2017 World Series". MLB. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  13. ^ Atkins, Hunter (August 3, 2019). "Astros pitchers toss combined no-hitter against Mariners". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved August 3, 2019.
  14. ^ @MLB (September 28, 2019). "9 pitches, 3 Ks" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. ^ Creally, Matthew (July 5, 2022). "Ryne Stanek is making history for Houston in 2022". Crawfish Boxes. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  16. ^ Snyder, Matt (October 26, 2019). "World Series 2019: Astros reliever Will Harris picks up five huge outs to help keep season alive". CBSSports.com. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  17. ^ Dougherty, Jesse (January 3, 2020). "Will Harris joined the Nats, the team that beat him, after getting over World Series loss". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 1, 2022.
  18. ^ "Ex-Astros pitcher Harris joins Series nemesis Nats". January 3, 2020.
  19. ^ "Washington Nationals: Predicting the future of Will Harris". September 12, 2020.
  20. ^ "Will Harris to Undergo Thoracic Outlet Surgery".
  21. ^ "Nationals Make Series of Roster Moves".
  22. ^ "Nationals' Will Harris: On 60-day IL after recent procedure". cbssports.com. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
  23. ^ "1st grade museum of "famous Americans" Can you guess who Jack chose to be?".
  24. ^ "Brooks Baseball · Home of the PitchFX Tool – Player Card: Will Harris". Brooks Baseball. Retrieved August 29, 2012.
  25. ^ "Will Harris Bio". LSUSports.net.
  26. ^ "Will Harris Stats, Fantasy & News". MLB.com.
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Awards and achievements
Preceded by No-hit game
August 3, 2019
(with Sanchez, Biagini & Devenski) 		Succeeded by
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