Athletics 2024 Season In Review: Hogan Harris
Despite being a regular on the Oakland-Vegas commute, Hogan Harris actually showed promise and progress in his sophomore season when given the chance. Time will tell whether he’ll get a real shot at earning a spot in the rotation or if he’ll get permanently relegated to the Quadruple-A status he currently holds.
How was he acquired?
The Oakland Athletics selected Harris with their third-round pick in the 2018 draft, 85th overall. Not debuting until June 2019, the southpaw got off to hot start, pitching to a 2.80 ERA across 15 games combined at Low-A and High-A and striking out 65 batters while walking just 19. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to pitch in another professional game for nearly three years due to the pandemic and then having to undergo Tommy John surgery.
What were the expectations?
Since returning, Harris has fought and clawed his way back up the pitching depth chart. In 2022, he struck out a whopping 105 batters in just 74 2⁄3 innings across three levels. He hasn’t held up too well in the hitter-friendly environment of Triple-A Las Vegas but he certainly has shown enough flashes to earn multiple chances in the major leagues. His 7.14 ERA in 2023 is horrendous to look at but a much better 5.02 FIP and some really stellar starts showed he was definitely capable of more. The A’s merely wanted to see that “more” show up more consistently in 2024.
2024 Results
Harris didn’t earn an Opening Day roster spot but the A’s called him up for a couple of spot outings in May to give the bullpen some fresh length. A couple of injuries in the rotation then opened up the opportunity for Harris to give a full rotation audition. The results didn’t disappoint as he held opponents to a shiny 2.76 ERA. However, while he did have some legitimately good starts,, his subpar strikeout and walk rates point to a bit more luck than performance, evidenced by a 4.90 FIP. As a result, the A’s sent him back down to give other guys’ opportunities.
The A’s brought him back up in late August to get work out of the bullpen. Once again , he put a similarly strong 2.50 ERA but this time it was backed up by a 3.28 FIP and much better strikeout numbers.
2025 Outlook
With the signing of Luis Severino and a growing stable of young upper-level pitchers, Harris will continue to have to fight for every opportunity. He possesses the arsenal to be a starter and, despite a checkered health history, he’s shown the ability to go deep into games. However, if the rotation proves too tall of a climb, he could work great as a lefty weapon out of the bullpen. Either way, 2025 will likely be Harris’ last chance to make his name as a member of the A’s.