He’ll presumably be a part of spring training with a chance to earn a bench role.
After a storied career at Princeton High School and the University of Cincinnati, Josh Harrison was selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 6th round of the 2008 MLB Draft. He went on to routinely terrorize his hometown Cincinnati Reds during a Pirates career that spanned from 2011-2018, making a pair of All Star teams in the process.
He has since bounced around, but to date is the owner of an impressive .286/.334/.455 line against the Reds for his career (391 PA). Said bouncing has finally landed the now 36 year old an opportunity with the Reds as a non-roster signing, as MSM Sports announced on the artist formerly known as Twitter on Monday.
Welcome Home, Josh Harrison!
MSM is excited to announce that client, Josh Harrison, has signed a NRI contract with the Cincinnati Reds!
A career .270 hitter in over 4,300 MLB PA across 13 seasons and 2 career All Star Games, Josh is expected to play a versatile role across the… pic.twitter.com/5iKbsDv6Vr
— MSM (@MSMsports) February 5, 2024
Harrison was a 2B by trade, originally, but has certainly spent a ton of time all over the diamond. If you squint – and if you contemplate the idea of optioning one of the Reds crop of youngsters to AAA to begin the season for both playing time and service time reasons – you could perhaps see Harrison emerging as a replacement for Nick Senzel to start 2024. Of course, that’s only if he shows up to Goodyear showing more life than he did during a .554 OPS stint with the Philadelphia Phillies last year.
It’s yet another feel-good signing by the Reds, even if this one doesn’t come with guaranteed money the way that the deals with Luke Maile and Brent Suter did.
Welcome to the Reds (for now), Josh!