How about it, Joey Matches? Title for tomorrow's post? He's been earning it all season.

CJ was the stopper last season. If Harry continues on that trajectory next year, it will be most excellent

His career is having a Cliff Lee kind of feel to it...don't kill me people. Just go look it up. It's kind of crazy... He may not end up being totally Cliff, but I'll take what he's got right now over most pitchers.

Of course he will be the ace he came from THE mark teixera trade beau jones is next

I wont kill you P1. I just went off on a huge man love tangent for Harry. lol. In my opinion, right now, if he keeps this up, he's going to pass the trajectory of a pitcher we thought we were getting from Atl. He's show flashes here and there. One of his best moments was the extra innings game in BOS he pitched last year.... he was our tim wakefield, last pitcher standing, and he held it down like i've never seen before for 4 solid innings; perpetually getting out of jams until Nelly could send us home victors. But this year he's stepped it up a whole nother notch.

I'll say this. If he finishes the rest of the year i can guarantee you two things

1. He's gonna Colby Lewis these playoffs
2. He's going to give us the confidence to reserve ourselves when CJ is concerned contract wise to not over pay, and use that money else where without hesitation and just pass if we have too.

so call me crazy too if needed. i'm there with ya

Ok guys do not overreact. He want even going to be in the rotation at the start of the season. If not for injuries to Hunter and feldman he's still in the pen. And Cliff Lee REALLY

You literally just gave the Cliff Lee story verbatim. Yeah...go look it up. But again, I'm not saying he's Cliff, he's just pitching extremely well. You always hear those stories where it just "clicks" for pitchers. It's pretty cool we actually get to see it as fans of the Rangers...where pitchers die.

Bubbav,

Hunter and Feldman are both healthy now....... why's he not in the pen? We're not overreacting. We're excited about a potential opportunity, one that for the most part. None of us saw coming. Hell half of us expected him to be in the pen, bomb and get traded of or DFA'd. instead he's slowly and surely becoming one of our more reliable pitchers. Right now besides CJ, Harrison is the one pitcher we can rely on when we really need a win. Once he becomes more consistent, he can be a force. but its a big IF :(

Just for clarification's sake, Harrison broke Spring Training as the #3 starter. Had Hunter and Feldman both been healthy AND both outpitched Harrison, it still would have been Holland and Ogando bumped from the rotation.

The biggest thing Harrison has going for him right now is his ability to throw strikes, induce swings, and get tons of groundballs. Even on his fastball at 95 he's getting lots of groundball outs. You can tell that the guy is just in a different zone than he was last year. He's completely focused, trusting his talent, and executing the pitches and fielding the position.

He has the raw ability to be better than CJ no doubt about it. CJ is where he is by being a smart pitcher, having a tremendous work ethic, and a wide assortment of plus pitches. In my opinion, Harrison is a bigger talent, his plus pitches are better than CJ's, but he doesn't have CJ's mental game, and he probably doesn't prepare himself physically as well as CJ. When he truly refines and locks down that part of his game, he will be an Ace pitcher.

Holland is right there in the same boat as Harrison. Tremendous stuff, maybe the best tailing fastball in our staff, and all of his pitches have lots of movement. But, his mental focus, and physical preparation are nowhere close to the level they are going to have to become for him to truly dominate. Both he and Harrison are young guys, and I am totally confident that they will find it. As for right this second, I would have to go with Harrison as the guy I trust the most to get it done. I'm tremendously impressed by the strides he has taken following his overall bad season in 2010.

TheNatural.... commence with the smarty pants dance!

well said

I am probably the very last guy on this site to focus on the mental game. People say Holland nededs more consistent focus, I say no, he needs more consistent mechanics. But Harrison's grit blows me away. This is a guy who REFUSES to not get the job done. I'm so impressed with the progress he's made in pitching well when he doesn't have his best stuff.

That said, he still probably doesn't generate enough swing-and-misses to ever be a #1. But a #2? Yeah, I can really see that. Big, durable lefties with mid-90s heat and 5 usable Big League offerrings are a rare commodity.

My fave part of Harrison is he typically tends to bear down in the later innings. like really bear down. when most pitchers are starting to throw weaker, and are losing there stuff Harry kicks it up a notch. He's like a 6 speed engine. you'll do fine on the hwy driving in 5th the whole time.... but you've always got 6th for that extra boost.

Last night he was throwing typically in the 94-95 range. in the 8th he had one FB that was clocked at like 97 or 98.

and lets not even undersestimate his ability to get GDP. gotta give cred to the D, but he's the best i've seen at that since Webb in his prime. i'm really looking forward too, and hoping, he keeps this up the rest of the year and years to come. We mighta found a diamond in the rough this year.