2016 All-Star selection is still special to Harris
With 1.95 ERA, righty remains one of bullpen’s vital components
Will Harris got chills remembering the call he made to his family last year around this time.
He had made the 2016 American League All-Star team. It culminated some uncertain years in his career with a definitive peak. He said he brought between 12 and 15 people with him to San Diego for the Home Run Derby and the All-Star Game. He paid for much of the travel expenses to share the accomplishment.
“I get the chills talking about it,” he said as a grin curled around his face. “It was that much fun.”
He particularly basked in the experience with his two brothers, Dylan and Clay, a teammate of his at LSU.
“It wasn’t just my thing,” Harris said. “It was our thing.”
The three-time waiver claim had bounced between the minors and majors until securing the Astros’ last roster spot in 2015 as a 30-year-old middle reliever.
He has excelled ever since.
After posting a 4.26 ERA in 991⁄3 innings in three years with the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks, he entered Tuesday night’s 6-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics with a 2.04 ERA in 1671⁄3 innings pitched for the Astros.
A boost in confidence
The All-Star selection period has become a meaningful benchmark for Harris’ progress.
Coming close to making the team, playing in the game and having achieved the honor have validated him as a pitcher without elite velocity who relies on nailing the edges.
“Any time you’re an athlete and you make an AllStar appearance, that next offseason you really have more self-confidence,” Harris said. “The things that I’m doing are good enough to get hitters out. It’s been proven.”
He posted more strikeouts than innings pitched in each of the last three seasons through 77 games. His ERA went from 1.03 to 0.80 to 1.95 (his current rate), which he has cut down with scoreless performances in 13 of his last 15 appearances.
He held batters to an .098 batting average during that span.
Harris has felt emotionally different each season from 2015 to 2017 heading into All-Star Weekend.
In 2015, it was during a series in Tampa, Fla., that he first contemplated making the AL squad. He thought he might get picked as an injury replacement player.
“There’s a chance I get a late add-on here,” he said. “And then it didn’t happen. I remember being disappointed. I kind of let myself get my hopes up.”
That it felt meaningful at all was a victory.
“I went from a waiver claim to thinking I was about to make the All-Star team,” Harris said. “There was definitely new, uncharted territory for my career.
“I had never even been an All-Star in the minor leagues at any level.”
‘Not a self-promoter’
The next year, when he pitched his way into the closer’s role for a period, he had a savvier understanding of the politics required for him to make the roster.
“As a reliever, you need momentum to make the team,” Harris said. “There’s a certain public appeal, an amount of your name being out there.”
Frequent highlights. Fantasy league value. Panache on the mound. Pitching in the middle innings required extra attention to get noticed, Harris realized.
“I’ve always been a lowprofile guy,” he said. “I’m not a self-promoter.”
Fans vote for the starting position players, and then player votes contribute to selecting relievers. But players will almost always vote for their teammates, Harris said.
Which leaves the middle men to campaign for votes from managers.
Astros manager A.J. Hinch openly urged Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost, who managed the AL teams in 2015 and 2016, to pick Harris.
In 2017, Harris is done hoping for favors.
“I don’t have the momentum this year,” he said with contentment.
ERA can be misleading with a sample size of less than 35 innings.
Remove a three-run mess he caused against the New York Yankees on May 14, and Harris has allowed only four earned runs this season.
“I let my friends and my wife get upset about that kind of stuff,” he said. “It’s not really something that’s on the front of my mind.”