Kyle Harrison back in the minors with Worcester is ready for fresh start in Red Sox organization following blockbuster trade

New Red Sox pitcher Kyle Harrison quickly learned what it was like to be in Boston. After the new left-hander landed at Logan Airport, he spent two hours in traffic trying to get from Boston to Polar Park.

Harrison arrived in Worcester roughly 20 minutes before the WooSox’ first pitch. The Bay Area native who was drafted and played for his hometown Giants, was beaming with excitement after settling in with his new teammates in Worcester, expressing his eagerness to get to work following the trade that sent him to the Red Sox.

“Obviously a player of [Devers’s] magnitude, I watched growing up, so it’s kind of cool to see,” said Harrison. “It just speaks to how much they believe in the package in return, so I’m excited to go out and show what I can do.”

The southpaw has split time this season in Triple-A and with the Giants, pitching in eight games (four starts); he is 1-1 with a 4.56 ERA. Harrison was expected to start for San Francisco on Sunday night. Manager Bob Melvin asked Harrison to speak with him before the first pitch.

“The first moment, I’m like, ‘Why are they bugging me 20 minutes before [a game]? Maybe they got a little inside trick where they wanted me to attack these guys,’” said Harrison. “Just the opposite.”

Harrison learned he was traded in the five-player deal for Rafael Devers. He quickly left Dodger Stadium, headed back to San Francisco to start packing, and worked on getting out of his lease. On Tuesday morning, he hopped on a flight at 7:10 a.m. to Boston, where he’d start the next chapter of his baseball career.

Harrison has a big arm, and the Red Sox are excited to have him and continue to develop him into a starting pitcher.

“He has a really exciting arm, some really unique release qualities, and a unique fastball,” said Red Sox director of pitching development Justin Willard. “That's going to be his bread and butter, no matter what else we want to do to him; if that fastball is real, it's elite. Velo, he’s left-handed, all really, really positive things. So, we’re really excited to build his arsenal around that, making that the main event, and then what are the pitches he needs to be supplemental to that fastball.”

Harrison’s four-seam fastball is special, sitting between 93 and 98 mph. He’s thrown the pitch 65 percent of the time with the Giants this season, keeping hitters below the Mendoza line at a .175 batting average. The challenge for the Red Sox is helping Harrison develop a mix of pitches to truly complement his elite fastball. His inability to get consistency with his pitch mix was one of the reasons he shuffled between the rotation and bullpen. He throws a mid-80’s slurve and a high-80’s changeup, which he features to righties, and both have been hit hard at the big league level.

Still only 23 years old, the Red Sox believe they can tap into his ability and develop him into a starter that will help the big league club not only this season but for many years to come.

“He’s going to be a huge piece for the Boston Red Sox for not only now but for the next five or six years," added Willard. “There’s really big potential here, and I’m really excited about the kid, and maybe a fresh start somewhere else will help him and get him going in the right direction.

“He got optioned down; he’ll be down here for a couple of weeks, and after we talk about some developmental stuff, we'll see kind of what he thinks the best path forward to implementing some of that stuff will be,” continued Willard.

Harrison, who sat in front of reporters smiling the entire time, is open to developing his pitching repertoire to help him become a future big league starter. He’s open to tinkering with new pitches, such as a sinker and a gyro slider, and he maintained his openness to tweaking other things with his new coaches in Boston.

“I’m just excited for the opportunity and what we’re going to be experimenting [with] here,” said Harrison. “I’m just learning how to pitch. I think it will open my eyes. This is a great organization for it. It starts there with the pitch arsenal and just seeing what we can do with it."

Harrison said he hasn’t spoken to many people yet in the Red Sox organization but had a conversation with pitching coach Andrew Bailey and Craig Breslow. He also mentioned that he’s worked out with Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet in the past during the offseason in Arizona.

“I’m looking forward to meeting those guys,” said Harrison.

One of Harrison’s former teammates in San Francisco was equally as excited that the Red Sox acquired the left-hander; the two caught up at Polar Park during the game.

“First and foremost, he’s a great person,” said WooSox catcher and former Giants teammate Blake Sabol. “In the Giants organization and stuff, that was really exciting, and when he was coming through, he was a top left-handed pitching prospect in baseball for a reason. He's got electric stuff, but it's the off-the-field stuff, his work ethic, and just how he goes about his business. He’s ahead of his time, beyond his years, I would say. It was definitely a really big get for the Red Sox organization, and I'm excited to see where he goes here.”

It was a long day for Harrison between the travel, traffic, and meeting his new teammates. He even threw around 15 pitches in the bullpen just to say he threw, having to borrow a teammate's glove. With his baseball equipment on its way from San Francisco, Harrison reflected on his new opportunity.

“Kind of crazy that chapter is closing, but another one opens… On to bigger and better things now,” said Harrison. “I’m a hungry pitcher. I’m ready to go. I’ve been waiting for my opportunity. I’ll hopefully get a good one here.”