The last time Kyle Harrison pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers was July 8 against St. Louis.
The 24-year-old southpaw allowed three runs on four hits over four innings.
Three days later, he was placed on the 15-day injured list with left forearm tightness.
Harrison took what he hopes is his last step in getting back into the Brewers’ starting rotation with a rehab assignment on July 30 with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers at Neuroscience Group Field.
Harrison pitched 5⅔ innings, blanking Lansing on one hit and three walks while striking out five in what was a 10-0 win over the Lugnuts.
“It felt good to get out there and attack the strike zone,” Harrison said. “A little more walks than I’d like, but the stuff all felt good. The forearm feels good, felt nothing. Now I’m just going to see where this takes me next.”
Harrison, who threw 68 pitches, was efficient with 46 strikes. He needed just nine pitches in both the first and fourth innings and in the lone inning where the Lugnuts got traffic on the bases, he used 14 pitches after allowing a double to Logan Sauve and a walk to Gunner Gouldsmith.
Harrison, who is 8-2 with a 3.01 ERA over 17 games and 83⅔ innings with the Brewers this season, felt he hit all the benchmarks he needed to hit to get back on the Brewers’ active roster.
“It was good to get out there today,” he said. “Involve the whole pitch mix. Throw with some intent behind it. Ultimately, get those game reps because those are hard to replicate.”
Harrison also had a nifty defensive play where he reached behind his back to snare a liner up the middle that he flipped over to Eric Bitonti to record the first out of the fifth inning.
“I definitely surprised myself with that one,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had one of those. So, we’ll take it. Hopefully, we can get one of those again.”
Now the goal for Harrison is to stay healthy and get back in the rotation.
Shane Drohan, Robert Gasser and Jacob Misiorowski are slated to get the starts in this weekend’s series against the Los Angeles Angels. Brandon Sproat appears in line to start the series opener against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Aug. 3 with Logan Henderson the next day.
Harrison said his return to the rotation is still being discussed by the Brewers.
“They haven’t really put that in play,” he said. “But hopefully next week some time.”
This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Brewers lefty Harrison feels good after pitching for Timber Rattlers
Reporting by Jim Oskola, Appleton Post-Crescent / Appleton Post-Crescent
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jim Oskola, Appleton Post-Crescent | USA TODAY Network
