The Texas Rangers made out like bandits in the Mark Teixeira trade in no small part because of the devolpment of Elvis Andrus and Neftali Feliz, but it is the development of another of those prospects, all-star Matt Harrison, that has left the Atlanta Braves shaking their heads. Harrison was selected to the All-Star game this season and was considered a homer pick by AL manager Ron Washington, but I’m here to vouch for Mr. Washington’s selection and so are the numbers (which tend to carry more clout). Since the beginning of 2011:
Player A: 3.19 ERA, 26 Wins, 3.51 FIP, 7.1 WAR
Player B: 3.25 ERA, 24 Wins, 3.30 FIP, 7.0 WAR
Player B is David Price, the talented young lefty that lights up radar guns and holds his own in Cy Young conversations (he finished second in 2010, but didn’t get any votes last year). Player A is your boy Matt Harrison. Harrison has not gotten 
the publicity of fellow 26-year old lefty David Price, but in many ways has been just as good over the past two seasons. In looking at Baseball-reference WAR, Harrison’s 2.9 mark ranks 8th in the Majors for both pitchers and position players (3rd among pitchers). He’s been especially good.
Harrison has done himself little help on the national stage as he surrendered 3 earned and 4 hits in the 20 pitches he threw during the All-Star game and struggled in last year’s playoffs. Last October, Harrison made two starts and came out with an 0-2 record and a 7.04 ERA. He wasn’t very good lasting just 7.2 innings across both starts. Still, these 3 appearances should not knock Mr. Harrison from the discussion as one of the best lefties in the game. He plays in Texas and is overshadowed by everybody in the lineup and at least Yu Darvish and Derek Holland in the rotation. At the very best, Matt Harrison is the 11th most recognizable name on the Texas Rangers roster and that should soon change.
How is Harrison being so successful? The answer is a heavy reliance on his two-seam fastball, a pitch that has a ton of horizontal movement. Over the past two seasons, David Price is the only pitcher that gets more horizontal movement from his two-seam fastball than Matt Harrison — who gets 11.5 inches of movement. He’s thrown it some 41.3% of the time this year (a career high).
There’s another reason that Harrison has yet to get the major publicity that he is likely due: he’s bald. He’s 26 and bald, which any publicist will tell you is not a good combination. When’s the last time a bald guy got really famous? Dr. Phil is the correct answer. Also there’s Jason Statham . I digress. Harrison’s repertoire and bald-ness have prevented him from getting the national publicity of a David Price, but he’s been able to pitch as well as anyone in baseball over the last two years and I think he’s ready to make that next step to stardom.
Here’s my solution: Harrison signs on with Schick razor company and they post commercials poking fun at the nature of his haircut. Maybe then people would notice that Harrison is noteworthy because apparently having a really good ERA while pitching your home games at the 6th friendliest ballpark for hitters this year isn’t enough. Time for some self-depreciating humor Matt. All the good pitchers are doing it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pf_HoE-mRoQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X22lzaE9KeM
-Sean Morash
