Top prospect Harrison to start season in Jupiter
During the Major League Baseball layoff, Monte Harrison sat in front of the TV watching old Marlins game — against the Braves, the Nationals, it didn’t matter.
He envisioned himself in the batter’s box, pondering how the pitcher might pitch to him in a given scenario. For the 24-year-old center fielder, it was all part of a plan to improve the mental aspect of his game, biding time until he could get back on the field.
In his words: “Either you’re getting better or you’re getting worse.”
Harrison, one of the organization’s top prospects, turned heads in summer camp with flashes of power. It was enough for some to think Harrison was ready for the Opening Day roster, especially since the addition of the universal designated hitter would lend extra at-bats to the team’s best hitters.
But the organization announced Tuesday that Harrison will instead start the year with the group of 30 players at the alternate training site in Jupiter rather than with the majorleague team when
it begins its season in Philadelphia on Friday.
“We didn’t want him here being a pinch runner and a defensive replacement,” said manager Don Mattingly. “He’s going to be in Jupiter, and he’s going to be getting at-bats off of Sixto [Sanchez] and Max Meyer and Trevor Rogers and all our good young pitching, and they’re going to game-plan like they would in the big leagues.
“Between [bench coach] James [Rowson] and myself talking about it, Monte’s probably going to get more quality at-bats between spring [and] summer camp. The pitching he’s going to have to be facing in Jupiter — he’s going to get more quality in that period of time than he would’ve got in a whole Triple-A season.”
Harrison believes he’s ready, but said diplomatically Tuesday, “Whether they want to start me in the big leagues or whether they don’t, I
don’t have control over that.”
A reporter followed up by asking if Harrison was ready to play major-league ball. That required no such equivocating.
“I don’t think I’m ready,” Harrison said. “I know I’m ready.”
The decision still comes as a bit of a surprise, given Harrison’s pedigree through the minor leagues and the Marlins’ need for more power. Last season in Triple A, Harrison posted a stats line of .274/.357/.451, with nine home runs in 244 plate appearances. He ranks as the No. 9 prospect in the team’s farm system, according to MLB.com.
The Marlins finished dead last in the majors last year in slugging percentage, at .375.
On the other hand, Harrison’s 73 strikeouts, a trend that continued through the summer camp, were enough to raise an eyebrow.
“I think Monte, if he would have been showing us the consistency of contact and smoking balls atbat after at-bat, [he would be on the team],” Mattingly said. “I don’t want to bash
Monte because I think Monte is going to be a great player, but he punched out eight straight times in our summer camp.
“So it’s not like every ball was getting squared up. He’s got room to grow.”
Still, there’s a natural expectation that Harrison will likely spend some amount of time with the Marlins this season. Injuries (or COVID-19) could force their hand.
Harrison will likely show progression. The team could need a boost in power. When Mattingly sat down to have conversations with the players being sent to Jupiter, he made sure to convey one message.
“The conversations were, basically ‘be ready,’ ” he said.
For the uber-confident Harrison, staying ready seems as if it won’t be much of an issue. When he was getting his mental preparation in during the shutdown, he had one thing in mind.
“Whenever they told us we had to step on the field and play, Monte Harrison was ready to play,” he said.