Lost In The Shuffle: Phillies Sign Josh Harrison
It has been an incredibly exciting stretch for Philadelphia sports, and right now, this city is obviously focused on the Eagles’ NFC Championship Game win and a trip to Super Bowl 57 in Glendale, Arizona. Rightfully so. The calendar has just now turned to February, so football is still very much on the brain. In the midst of Championship Sunday, though, the Philadelphia Phillies continued a spectacular offseason by adding another nice depth piece to the roster. Veteran infielder Josh Harrison is no longer the All-Star caliber player he was back in the mid-2010s, but on a team that’s ready to compete now, he’s a welcome addition to an infield that needs age, and fielding.
Harrison, who signed a 1 year, $2 million contract with the Phillies on Sunday, is a 35 year old with 12 years of MLB experience, who brings a plus glove to both the 3rd base and 2nd base positions. With a minus defender at 3rd base in Alec Bohm (who yes, is still below league average despite his substantial improvement this past season) and a young player at 2nd in Bryson Stott, Harrison is a guy that can couple with Edmundo Sosa as a great depth member of the Phils’ infield. Offensively, there isn’t much power coming from Harrison, and he’s only cleared the .300 mark once in his career (2014 with PIT), but last year with the White Sox he put up a .256/.317/.370 stat line, which would be respectable coming off the bench for Philly. Again, those are nowhere near All-Star numbers, but for what he will be here to do, they’re serviceable.
Again, Harrison is really here for his glove. He’s been a strong defender his entire Major League career, and with the banning of the shift this year, the Phillies were in desperate need of more defensive help in the infield. Trea Turner certainly added to that when he signed with the Phils earlier in the offseason, and Harrison pretty much finishes off the process of building the 2023 infield. It’s not super flashy, it’s not going to be the difference between winning a World Series and not, but it shows once again that the Phillies’ front office will not be stopped from addressing potential weak spots of this roster. It may be high praise, but this team is one outfield depth piece away from being what the 2022-23 Eagles have been: solid at every position.
