Kyle Harrison, the 23-year-old lefty who the Red Sox acquired from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade, struggled in his organizational debut Thursday.
He pitched 4 innings for Triple-A Worcester at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He gave up four runs, eight hits (one homer) and one walk while striking out four. Fifty-one of his 76 pitches (67%) landed for strikes.
He threw 45 four-seam fastballs, averaging 94.7 mph and topping out at 96.3 mph. He added 13 slurves, 11 sliders and seven changeups, according to Baseball Savant.
He got seven swings and misses with his four-seam fastball, one with his slurve and two each with his slider and changeup.
The plan is for him to add a cutter and sinker to his pitch mix but the fastball will continue to be the focal point.
“Really excited to build kind of the arsenal around that (the fastball), making that the main event,” director of pitching Justin Willard said last week.
Baseball America ranked Harrison No. 26 on its Top 100 list entering 2024. He has a 4.48 ERA in 39 outings (35 starts) in the majors.
Boston acquired Harrison, right-handed pitcher Jordan Hicks and prospects James Tibbs III and Jose Bello in the trade.
Hicks (toe injury) could return from the IL as early as Friday. He’s expected to serve as a late-inning reliever for Boston.
Tibbs, the 13th overall pick in the 2024 draft, was assigned to Double-A Portland. He entered Thursday 8-for-26 (.308) with a .387 on-base percentage, one double, one triple, three RBIs, three runs, three walks and six strikeouts in seven games for the Sea Dogs.
Bello, a 20-year-old righty, made his Red Sox organizational debut Monday, hurling 2 scoreless innings for the Florida Complex League Red Sox. He allowed one hit and two walks while striking out three.
