Bearcats in the Big Leagues: Harrison Wakes Up, Walsh Earns Second Save

Josh Harrison

Regular readers of Bearcats in the Big Leagues know that Harrison has not had the best July. Perhaps his efforts on Wednesday will begin a turnaround of sorts. In a 3-2 win for the Pirates over the Brewers, Harrison went 3-for-5 with a run scored, recording a WPA (win probability added) of .213, the fourth-highest mark on the team and third-best among position players. Following his home run on Tuesday, Harrison has now posted back-to-back games with a wRC+ above 200 for the first time since early June. One of Harrison’s hits in the game was a double, which was his first two-bagger since June 27. He now has 17 doubles on the season after hitting 25 a year ago.

Ian Happ

The Cubs beat the Braves 8-2 on Wednesday afternoon. That might make you think that Happ had a nice day at the plate, as Chicago clearly won handily. Unfortunately, Happ only helped marginally in the contest, going 1-for-5 with an RBI. His WPA of -.031 means he actually weighed the team down a bit, but that was probably because he was caught stealing, not just because he only had one hit. Happ, who has 28 steals in his minor league career and nabbed 31 bags in college, has managed only three steals in his first MLB season, while being caught as many times.

Connor Walsh

After failing to record a save in his first 23 appearances of the season, Walsh posted his second of the campaign on Wednesday, throwing a shutout inning to close up a 3-0 win for the Birmingham Barons against the Jackson Generals. Walsh is really turning it on in the height of summer, as he has a 0.57 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 15 ²⁄₃ innings across his last 10 appearances.

Ryan Atkinson

The right-hander had another off day between starts.