Bearcats in the Big Leagues: Josh Harrison, Buster Posey, Ian Happ

Josh Harrison

Did you know that right now, if you search Josh Harrison on Google, Buster Posey is the top result in the “people also searched for” category? I just thought that was an interesting bit of information that I stumbled across while doing research for this post.

Back to the baseball. Harrison went 1-for-4 for the second-straight game on Tuesday, as he has hit safely in four of the last five games. He also scored a run in the contest, as the Pirates claimed a 6-3 victory over the Tigers in interleague play. A small injury has kept Harrison’s August sample size smaller than usual, but through the first week of the month, he is slashing .273/.273/.409 with a woeful wRC+ of 77 as his summer fade continues to hold him.

Ian Happ

The bad news for Happ is that the Cubs lost to the Giants (Hey, that’s Posey’s team!) by a 6-3 margin on Tuesday. The good news is it wasn’t his fault at all. Happ went 2-for-3 with two RBI in the contest and had the highest WPA (win probability added) of anyone on Chicago’s roster. (.069). With those two hits, one of which was a double, he recorded just his second multi-hit effort in the last 15 games and the double was just his fourth extra-base hit since the All-Star break and second since August began.

Like Harrison, Happ has not had a full slate of games in August, primarily because he has been benched multiple times, but he does have a slash line of .278/.333/.500 in the month, which includes a better than league average wRC+ of 110.

Connor Walsh

Regular work in Triple-A continues to come Walsh’s way, as he pitched yet again on Tuesday, his fourth outing in about a week and a half for the Charlotte Knights. He bounced back from a rough appearance to throw an inning of shutout relief with two strikeouts. He has six punchouts in four total Triple-A innings, although by allowing a walk he kept his WHIP at an elevated mark of 1.75. But remember, this is a small sample size. There is plenty of time to improve on that mark and others.

Ryan Atkinson

It was another day off for Atkinson as he gets his mind and body right before his next start for the Jackson Generals of the Southern League.