Brewers prospect Monte Harrison caps a breakthrough season with a solid showing in Arizona

The Milwaukee Brewers always thought Monte Harrison would emerge as a top prospect if only he could stay healthy for a full season.

Well, Harrison finally stayed healthy in 2017 and indeed emerged as a player to watch in their farm system.

The 22-year-old outfielder put a nice finishing touch on a breakthrough year with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League, which concluded regular-season play Thursday. In 13 games, Harrison batted .283 with a .604 slugging percentage, including five home runs and 14 runs batted in.

That performance came on the heels of a banner 2017 season in which Harrison split playing time between low Class A Wisconsin and advanced Class A Carolina, batting .272 with 21 home runs, 67 RBI, 27 stolen bases, .350 on-base percentage and .481 slugging percentage.

This is what the Brewers had in mind when they selected the physically gifted Harrison in the second round of the 2014 draft out of high school in Kansas City, getting him to forgo a baseball/football scholarship to Nebraska.

“Monte had a huge year,” Brewers farm director Tom Flanagan said. “He was healthy all year, and he made the most of it. He enjoys competing and he works really hard, so it was good to see him break out this year.”

Harrison had some catching up to do after a couple of serious injuries robbed him of needed development time. While playing for the rookie Helena club in 2015, he suffered a gruesome ankle/lower leg injury that took some nine months of recovery time. Last year, while playing at Wisconsin, he broke the hamate bone in his left wrist, causing him to miss nearly half the season.

In a system loaded with highly touted outfield prospects, the lost time put the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Harrison behind the curve. But the big 2017 season allowed him to soar all the way from No. 20 to No. 5 on the updated organization prospect list recently published by Baseball America.

That’s a noteworthy jump in a farm system deep in talent at present.

“He knows he has a lot of ability and still has a ways to go,” Flanagan said. “But he is on his way and he’ll put in the work to get there.”

Another Top 10 prospect, third baseman Lucas Erceg, fared reasonably well in 14 games (52 at-bats) in the AFL, batting .250 with one home run and five RBI. But outfielder Corey Ray, a first-round pick in 2016, struggled (.231, one homer, seven RBI) while seeing much more action (78 at-bats in 23 games) and first baseman Jake Gatewood was mostly over-matched in 13 games (4 for 42, one RBI, 18 strikeouts).

Ray was sent to the AFL for extra at-bats and coaching after a rough year at Carolina. In 112 games there, he batted .238 with a .679 OPS, seven home runs, 48 RBI, 24 stolen bases and 156 strikeouts. More was expected from Ray after getting a $4.125 million signing bonus as the No. 5 overall pick in the ’16 draft but he got off to a late start after recovering from off-season knee surgery and never got his hitting mechanics squared away.

As for the struggles of Ray and Gatewood in the Arizona, Flanagan said, “We keep in mind that it was a very limited amount of at-bats and innings, spread over six weeks. There are quite a few days off in between their at-bats since they are not playing regularly.

“So, the Arizona Fall League is a bit different in that regard, as they adapt to extra time on the bench. But it’s a good part of their development, as they learn the importance of having a routine that keeps them ready.”

Among the five pitchers from the system who pitched in Arizona, right-hander Adrian Houser drew notice by throwing in the high 90s as he continued his recovery from Tommy John elbow surgery in 2016. Houser was limited to four appearances and 10 2/3 innings but all signs were go (two walks, 11 strikeouts) as he moved forward.

Left-hander Quintin Torres-Costa (16 strikeouts in 14 innings) and righty Nate Griep (12 strikeouts in 11 2/3 innings) also threw the ball well for the most part.

“I thought all of our pitchers did pretty well, and for the most part accomplished what we wanted,” Flanagan said. “I think getting the experience and the extra innings should help all of the pitchers as they head into 2018.”