Josh Harrison Joins the Philadelphia Phillies

Within a surprising flurry of offseason activity, the Philadelphia Phillies joined the fray by signing Josh Harrison to a minor league contract. Along with the contract comes an invitation to spring training where Harrison will attempt to make it back on a major league roster.

The Recent Road 

The deal holds little risk for the Phillies given the addition of an extra roster spot next year. That’s probably a good thing too due to all the questions surrounding Harrison. The nine-year veteran hasn’t performed too hot as of late. Whether it’s from injury or simple decline, Harrison hasn’t shown a lot lately.

Over the past three seasons alone, Harrison’s productivity has plummeted. His last three wRC+ marks have gone from 104 to 77 and most recently to 22. A significant reason for the more recent plummet could be contributed to the litany of injuries. Injuries that limited Harrison to just 36 games with the Detroit Tigers in 2019. Initially, Harrison’s presence within Detroit was to serve as their primary second basemen. With the injuries, however, he turned in a 2019 slash line of .175/.218/.263. That, in turn, led to Detroit releasing the 32-year old after just one season.

Even with all of that said, it’s not hard to imagine a bounceback campaign in 2020. After all, Harrison isn’t far removed from a productive four-year stint with the Pirates. A stint where he combined to bat .290/.331/.428 from 2014-17. During that time he also produced 37 homers, 118 doubles, 17 triples, and 59 stolen bases across five different positions.

When healthy, Harrison can still be the guy who averaged 46 RBI per season from 2014-2017. During that same time frame, Harrison averaged 22 walks and 15 stolen bases per season.

A Place No Matter What

Even with his decline, there was still more opportunities for Harrison. There were as many as five clubs interested in inking the former Pirate to a minor league deal per Jon Heyman. Even with his down season in 2019 he still managed near-perfect defense having not surrendered s single error through 36 games.

Josh Harrison considering interest from 5 clubs … minor league deals, healthy And looking to make club in super utility role. Even though tough 2019, no errors in 34 games (305 innings), + 39 DRS betw 3B & 2B in his career. 2 time All Star.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 26, 2019