Josh Harrison has been a utility piece for the Pirates over the past couple of years, but he’s now making the case to be an everyday player.
Harrison has shined this year in right field and the lead-off spot after Travis Snider and Jose Tabata failed to consistently produce in their times at the position.
Through 39 games, Harrison has put up a career-high .278/.320/.774 line with four doubles, two triples, three home runs and 10 RBI. His calm demeanor can be attributed to a one day at a time approach that doesn’t have him worried about how long he could be with the team due to call-ups and other things.
“It’s hard, but it also puts it in prospective,” said Harrison. “It forces you to take it one day at a time because baseball is a sport that we can look ahead and say ‘Let’s look at who we’re facing next week’ or ‘Look at this’. This situation you have to look at day-to-day because you never know what the next day ahead has in store for you, so you really embrace the moment that you are in.”
That one day at a time attitude is also what has helped him endure the countless times he has been moved from AAA Indianapolis to Pittsburgh and back and it seems to have finally paid off as his play has solidified a position that has struggled in the past to bridge the gap to Gregory Polanco’s debut in mid-June.
“It’s a part of the game and regardless of the fact that I’m blessed to play this game at the highest level and we know that everything that happens is never going to be easy, so I was still involved with hard work, ups and downs,” said Harrison. “Baseball is a business that is so unpredictable for day to day and I’ve been through it the past couple years, but I just stuck with it and I know I can play here and we got a good group of guys who have always welcomed me whether I was up and down or have been here the whole year.”
Another area the Pirates were struggling in was the lead-off position. Starling Marte is off to a bad start this season which hasn’t helped Neil Walker and Andrew McCutchen, who are below him in the lineup. Snider and Tabata were better, but not to the level that manager Clint Hurdle has wanted.
Harrison has been able to get to that level to produce some pop from the top of the Bucco lineup. He also knows that there will be times where he isn’t the first batter of an inning and you have to adjust to that spot in the lineup.
“Later in the game, the game will present you certain situations where you’re not a lead-off, but typically,” said Harrison. “Obviously leading off in the first inning, but at any given time after that, I could be hitting with runners on with no out or I could be hitting with two outs and nobody on, so it’s typically the first at bat, but any situation I could be used as a lead-off just depending on how the order falls, so I approach some at bats differently because I want to give guys behind me a different look. It’s different than hitting second or seventh. I’m looked at as the guy to set the tone and allow guys behind me to see what this guy has and how he may be attacking us, to get on base and let those guys drive me in.”
Harrison’s current hot streak seems to have awakened a Pirate offense that has dug them an early hole in the division. The team has currently won six of their previous 10 games, but he believes it’s more of a group effort rather than it being his play rubbing off on the others.
“To be honest, I can’t answer for how it rubs off on anyone, said Harrison. “I just play the way that I play. I have fun and I get a chance to do something that I love, so I enjoy every minute of it whether things are going right or whether things aren’t going my way. I look at it as I’m in Pittsburgh and I’m playing for the Pirates at PNC Park and somebody would love to be where I am and I just know that I’m blessed and I have fun and if it rubs off on guys, that’s good, but I try to do what I can to help the team.”
Harrison has solidified himself on the active roster no matter where he plays and he takes it all in every second he gets.
“I’m having a blast, said Harrison. “Anytime I play, I’m having a blast and just to be here, is a blessing and I never take it for granted.”
(Photo Credit: Jason O. Watson/Getty Images)
