Brewers President of Baseball Operations David Stearns has now made two under the radar signings in the past week. Last week, pitcher Trevor Gott was signed to a major league deal. Most recently, reliver Hobie Harris was signed as a non-roster invitee.
The first person to report the deal was Will Sammon. He made the announcement in the evening hours on Tuesday.
Interesting under-the-radar addition for Brewers: adding minor-league FA RHP Hobie Harris to NRI deal, per source. He has hit 99 mph, good strikeout numbers. Was in big-league camp with Blue Jays last spring.
— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) November 10, 2021
Who is Hobie Harris?
Harris is a 28 year old right handed reliver who stands at 6’3″. He was drafted in the 31st round by the New York Yankees in 2015. Despite multiple solid seasons from 2015 to 2019, the highest level of minor league baseball he played at was Advanced-A. 2019 ended up being his worst year as a professional as he had a 4.62 ERA in 48.2 innings pitched.
Despite no minor league baseball in 2020, Harris was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the Triple-A phase of the rule five draft last off-season. He ended up spending the entire 2021 season at the Blue Jays Triple-A affiliate where he pitched quite well. In 2021, he posted a 3.92 ERA in 43.2 innings while striking out 51 batters.
The ability to strike batters out has always been a strength of Harris. Along with a 99 MPH fast ball, he mixes in a curveball and split finger changeup. This combination gives him the potential to make him an effective reliver at the major league level.
As a non-roster invitee, Harris will have to play his way onto the Brewers active roster this spring. It is not uncommon for non-roster invitees to make a teams roster and end up play pivotal roles. Both Jake Cousins and Miguel Sanchez were non-roster invites last spring and managed to carve out roles. Hopefully Harris can do the same.
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