WORCESTER – Virtually everything is new and strange for Kyle Harrison, the former San Francisco Giants left-hander sent to Boston as one-fourth of the trade return for Rafael Devers this week.
He grew up in Concord, Calif., a city roughly an hour’s drive from the Giants’ Oracle Park, and was drafted by his hometown team in 2020. He is, as he described himself earlier this week in his first media availability since the trade, a “west coast kid” through and through.
But there was one familiar face when Harrison arrived at Polar Park, the Red Sox’s Triple-A home, on Tuesday evening: catcher Blake Sabol, a fellow former Giant.
“When he came to the clubhouse, I was probably one of the first guys that he hugged,” Sabol told the Herald. “I’m really excited to get to work with him again and hopefully help him anyway I can, so that he can get back up where he belongs.”
“I was there for his debut and everything,” Sabol said. “He’s, first and foremost, a great person. In the Giants organization and stuff, it was really exciting when he was coming through. I mean, he was (the) top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball for a reason.
“And he’s got electric stuff, but like I said before, it’s the off-the-field stuff, his work ethic, and just how he goes about his business. It’s ahead of its time or beyond his years, I would say. It was definitely a really big get for the Red Sox organization.”
Having caught Harrison when they were in the Giants organization together, Sabol has the ultimate scouting report on the newest Sox southpaw.
“He’s got an electric fastball,” the catcher said. “I mean, that was always his M.O. coming through the minor leagues… He uses his three pitches: he’s got the sweeper, the changeup, and then that electric heater and stuff, but he’s able to throw all three in the zone.”
Even when Harrison was a young prospect, attempting to get a hit off him was an exercise in futility, Sabol said.
“I remember the first spring training, I was hitting really well, and then they brought this minor league kid in, they (were) like ‘Yeah, he’s one of our top prospects,’ ” Sabol recalled. “I’m pretty sure I struck out on like three or four pitches. I was like, ‘Oh, who’s this guy?!’ And so sure enough he was up in the big leagues later that year.”
In the big leagues together – they both debuted with the ‘23 Giants – Sabol described catching Harrison as a “pleasure.”
“He had a good outing against the Dodgers that I was behind the plate for,” Sabol said. “Striking out guys like Freddie Freeman, you know, really tough guy to strike out.”
Having signed with the Red Sox organization during the offseason and up in the big leagues for eight games this spring, Sabol was ready to help Harrison get familiar with his new environment. On Tuesday night, they sat together and talked throughout the game.
Not everyone is built to play in Boston, but Sabol believes the 23-year-old lefty can handle it.
“I think for him the outside noise and pressure has always been there,” the catcher said. “A top pitching prospect coming all the way through, he’s always had noise from, whether it be fans, organization, whether it be internal, and he’s thrived in it. So I think he’s a good fit for the organization, and I think he should be able to flourish here for sure.”
And though it’s immensely difficult to be a player brought to a place like this, and in return for a star like Devers, Sabol thinks Red Sox fans will come around to Harrison.
“Once you guys see him out on the mound and stuff, you’ll see just the passion and the energy,” Sabol said. “I remember his first Oracle start and stuff. I’m pretty sure he went like, six or seven deep, and it was really exciting… I will never forget, like, him coming off the field after the last strikeout and just how fired up he was. And the fans loved him there. So I’m sure we’ll be able to see a lot of that at Fenway at some point.”
