Josh Harrison

Organization Prospect Rankings

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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #30 prospect in 2011
  It can be tempting for evaluators to write off Harrison, who is too small to hit for power, too slow to play a small man's game, too limited defensively to play shortstop, too impatient to draw walks. But all he does is hit, hit and hit. He batted .300 last year in Double-A, was the toughest player in the Eastern League to strike out (once per 11.3 plate appearances) and owns a career .306 average as a pro. During Altoona's run to the EL championship, he homered three times to nearly match his regular season total. Harrison has thickened his frame since the Pirates acquired him, Jose Ascanio and Kevin Hart from the Cubs as part of the disastrous Tom Gorzelanny/John Grabow trade in 2009. He has a balanced approach, fine control of the strike zone and makes good adjustments from at-bat to at-bat. The question with Harrison is what he can contribute beyond batting average and where he can play on the diamond. His defensive tools are fringy, leaving second base and the outfield corners as his best options. Scouts are mostly confounded by Harrison, seeing him as capable of hitting .270-.280 in the big leagues--no small feat--but limited in so many other areas. He continued to hit in the Arizona Fall League after the season, batting .330, and will try to prove himself at the Triple-A level in 2011.
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  Ranked Pittsburgh Pirates #29 prospect in 2010
  Harrison came to the Pirates along with Jose Ascanio and Kevin Hart last July in a trade that sent Tom Gorzelanny and John Grabow to the Cubs. Harrison has baseball in his blood, as he's the nephew of former big leaguer and current Orioles first-base coach John Shelby and the brother of former Rays farmhand Vince Harrison. Josh has a track record of performance, sharing Big East Conference player of the year honors in 2008 and batting .323 through low Class A, but scouts still aren't sure what to make of him. Using a simple, repeatable swing, he makes consistent line-drive contact and brings energy to the ballpark. The question is what else he brings to the table. He makes contact so easily that he doesn't draw many walks, and while he has more pop than expected from a little guy, that's not a major part of his game. He has fringy speed out of the box and is better under way, but he won't be a big basestealing threat at higher levels. His defensive position is also uncertain. His range and hands are fringy for second base, his main position in college, and his arm and power are substandard for third base. He saw most of his time last season in left field, but doesn't profile well there either. Harrison hit just .275/.310/.374 once he got to high Class A in 2009, and he needs to get his bat going again in Double-A this year.