Harris spent five seasons, including the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign, pitching almost entirely in relief for Georgia Southern. He also took the mound for the Savannah Bananas in 2021 and the MLB Draft League in 2022 before signing as a non-drafted free agent that summer. He pitched his way to Double-A in his first full season, then managed to dominate the Southern League enough in 2024 to get bumped up to Triple-A.
While it tops out at 95 mph and averages just 92, Harris’ invisible fastball elicited a 42 percent miss rate in 2024, according to Synergy. Hitters can’t square it up thanks to deception and carry up in the zone. His 83-84 mph short slider gets a lot of groundball contact, rather than serving as an out pitch, and he also will mix in a splitter to give hitters a different look.
Harris has never had good command but had been around the zone enough to have success, though his walk rate spiked when he touched Gwinnett for the first time. He’s pitching this season at age 26, so the clock might be ticking, but he could carve out a role as a lefty reliever in the big leagues.
Not all big league arms follow a straight path. The Braves are hoping that’s the case with Harris, a 6-foot lefty who signed as a non-drafted free agent in 2022. He joined the organization after five seasons at Georgia Southern, a lengthy college career that included summer stops in the Northwoods League and even an appearance with the Savannah Bananas. His turn in MLB’s Draft League in 2022 helped pave the way for him to start his pro career, and he pitched himself to Double-A in his first full season and then up to Triple-A Gwinnett this year.
There’s nothing fancy about what Harris does, coming at hitters with a two-pitch mix. While his fastball averages just 92 mph and tops out at 95, it plays up because it’s an invisible heater. Hitters don’t see it, thanks to some deception in his delivery, and it has good carry up in the zone. That leads to a ton of swing-and-miss, with Harris posting a miss rate on the pitch of around 45 percent for most of the 2024 season. He backs it up with a little 84 mph slider that is better at getting ground-ball contact than missing bats.
Harris’ command is far from pinpoint, but it doesn’t need to be in a relief role. He’s extremely fastball-reliant, throwing it more than 75 percent of the time. The 25-year-old southpaw’s role might be limited, but the fact that he’s knocking on Atlanta’s door shows he’s already exceeded expectations.
How this works:
This section shows two different ways to evaluate pitch movement.
On the left, “Total Movement” shows the real-world movement of a pitch, including the forces of gravity, which affects every pitch thrown.
Since gravity requires time, and slower pitches aren't 'better' just because they have more time to move, a pitch's movement is compared to other pitches of the same pitch type, within +/- 2 MPH and +/- 0.5 feet of extension/release.
On the right, Induced Movement (or IVB) is reported without gravity, and attempts to isolate movement created by the pitcher's ability to spin and manipulate the ball.
These run values are leveraged, meaning the base/out situation at the time of the event does impact the run value (thus introducing context outside the batter's own contribution).
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's batted balls allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
Team
Avg HR Trot
Actual HR
xHR
HR-xHR
Doubters
Mostly Gone
No Doubters
No Doubter %
2025
--
0
0.7
-1
1
1
0
--
Player
--
0
0.7
-1
1
1
0
--
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's batted balls allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's batted balls allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Adjusted" view here accounts for different wall heights, distances and environmental effects using Statcast Park Factor data.
Standard
Year
HR
2025
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
Player
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
0
0
1
1
1
1
1
1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
Note: xHR tells how many of this pitcher's batted balls allowed would have been out of other stadiums. The "Standard" view here accounts for different wall heights and distances but excludes environmental effects. It is based purely on the observed trajectory of the hit.
! Note: Shifts are through the 2022 season, Shaded starting from the 2023 season, Shift:
three or more infielders are on the same side of second base, Shade: positioned outside of
their typical responsible slices of the field. Learn more about
how positioning is defined here
