Former Brewers Farmhand Headed to the Hogs

[Seth Stohs]

Long-time Brewers prospect Monte Harrison has hung up his baseball spikes and is heading back to school. Harrison has reportedly committed to playing football for the University of Arkansas. 

Image courtesy of Jason Getz, USA Today

Richard Davenport (ARRecruitingGuy on X/Twitter) of Whole Hog Sports is reporting that former Brewers draft pick Monte Harrison has committed to playing football for the Arkansas Razorbacks starting this fall. 

Harrison was a tremendous athlete at Lee's Summit West High School in Lee's Summit, Missouri. On the gridiron, he has all kinds of options. He was deemed a four-star wide receiver recruit and committed to playing at the University of Nebraska starting in the fall of 2014. He also intended to play baseball for Darin Erstad and the Huskers. 

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Did you know that former big-leaguer Carl Crawford had signed to play quarterback at Nebraska out of high school, but he became a first-round pick and had a fairly long and lucrative career in the big leagues for the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers. 

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However, in June of 2014, the Milwaukee Brewers used their second-round draft pick to select the talented outfielder.  The Brewers offered Harrison $1.8 million dollars (about $700,000 over slot value) to sign and turn to baseball full time. 

Instead of heading to summer school, the Brewers brought Harrison to Arizona where he spent his first pro season. For the Arizona League Brewers, he hit .261/.402/.339 (.741) with seven doubles, two triples, a homer and 20 RBI. A speedster, he had 32 steals in 34 attempts. 

The Brewers challenged him in 2015, sending him to Low-A Wisconsin to start the season. In 46 games, he hit .148/.246/.247 (.493) with six doubles, two triples and two homers. When the rookie leagues started, Harrison was sent to Helena to play in the Advanced Rookie Pioneer League. In 28 games there, he hit .299/.410/.474 (.885) with four doubles, two triples and three home runs. He also had 14 stolen bases in 16 attempts. 

It was back to Wisconsin in 2016. In 75 games, he hit .221/.294/.337 (.631) with 11 doubles and six home runs. He was 8-for-11 in stolen base opportunities. In 323 plate appearances, he had just 24 walks and struck out 101 times. 

So, in 2017, it was back to Appleton where he started showing more of his talent and promise. In 63 games, he hit .265/.359/.475 (.834) with 12 doubles and 11 triples. He also was 11-for-14 in steal attempts. He was promoted to Carolina. He ended the season with 59 games for the Mudcats. he hit .278/.341/.487/.828) with 16 doubles and 10 homers. He was also 16-for-17 on the bases. Combined, that's an .832 OPS with 28 doubles, 21 homers and 27 stolen bases. 

He ended that season with 13 games in the Arizona Fall league where he hit .283 with two doubles and five home runs. He had certainly become a prospect to watch. 

However, that offseason, the Brewers were able to acquire Christian Yelich from the Marlins. Harrison was included in a package with OF Lewis Brinson, IF Isan Diaz and RHP Jordan Yamamoto sent to the Marlins. 

After continuing to rise through the Marlins system, Harrison was promoted to the big-league club and made his debut in August of 2020, during the Covid-shortened season. He was just five days shy of his 25th birthday. In 32 games, he received just 51 plate appearances. He hit .170/.235/.255 (.491) with a double and a homer. he was six-for-six in stolen base attempts. The issue was his plate discipline. In those 51 plate appearances, he had just four walks and 26 strikeouts. In 2021, he went 2-for-10 with a double over nine games. Before the 2022 season, he was released by the Marlins. 

He signed with the Angels in April. He played in nine games in 2022 and went 2-for-11 with a home run. He was released at the end of the season. 

The Brewers brought him back in 2023. He played in 88 games in Nashville where he hit .208/.277/.316 (.593) with 12 doubles, a triple, and five home runs. He also had 18 steals. However, he had 123 strikeouts in 296 plate appearances (41.5%). 

With no job offers in baseball in 2024, Harrison made the decision to commit to the Razorbacks. He never used any college eligibility, so he cold play four years if he wants to. 

As a senior in high school - a decade ago - he had 60 catches for 1,007 yards and 13 touchdowns. He also has 12 rushing touchdowns and threw a touchdown pass as well. 

Congratulations to Mr. Harrison and best wishes in his football career. 

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