Lee’s Summit West graduate relishes finally making his big-league debut on Tuesday
In a year full of weird and sometimes sad sports stories, there was an uplifting tale on Tuesday night.
The Miami Marlins, who had 18 players test positive for COVID-19 forcing the cancellation of seven consecutive games, returned to action Tuesday night against the Baltimore Orioles.
Despite a massively restructured roster, the Marlins beat the Orioles 4-0, handing former Gardner Edgerton lefty John Means his first loss of the season.
These were the roster moves the Marlins made on Tuesday before the game:
Among that sea of names is outfielder Monte Harrison, the former Lee’s Summit West High School star. It’s been a long road to the big leagues for Harrison, who was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the second round of the 2014 draft.
Three years later, Harrison was still in Single A ball when he was traded to the Marlins as part of a deal that sent Christian Yelich to Milwaukee.
Harrison, who once was Baseball Prospectus’ No. 49 overall prospect, slowly moved up the minor league ladder and was in Triple-A last year. However, wrist surgery limited him to 58 total games in the minors.
After taking part in the Marlins’ summer camp, Harrison wasn’t with the team when the COVID-19 outbreak took place in Philadelphia.
As one might expect, Harrison was thrilled to get a chance to finally play in a major-league game. Harrison, 24, was hitless in three plate appearances but he made a dazzling catch in center field:
Harrison, whose brother Shaquille is with the Chicago Bulls, shared a heartfelt series of messages about finally breaking through and the sacrifices his mother made while thanking a number of people.
This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 9:24 AM.
