Blue Jays prospect Jon Harris avoids serious injury

Jon Harris was selected by the Blue Jays in the first round of the 2015 MLB Draft

June 2nd was business as usual for the box score of Jon Harris. Another five innings pitched with just one earned run allowed and four strikeouts, but the 22-year-old right-hander was forced to leave his start early with what was described as a “lower-body injury”.

John Lott reports that the issue was a hip cramp, and that Harris is “in line to make his next start on schedule.” 


Harris has been one of the true bright spots in Toronto’s farm system this season, currently holding a 2.36 ERA over 42.0 innings pitched. This included a stretch of six scoreless outings and if it were not for a seven-run outlier on May 28th, that ERA may still be below one.

Still pitching with the Lansing Lugnuts, it shouldn’t be long before Harris follows fellow pitching prospect Francisco Rios up to the Advanced-A Dunedin Blue Jays. Another step would be possible beyond that for Harris if his performance remains strong, as well.

His name has become popular among Jays fans searching for the next fast-riser through the system, a la Daniel Norris or Dalton Pompey. His extended stay in Lansing seems to be part of an overarching organizational strategy, however, as there has been very little upward movement among the Jays’ top prospects.

Working in Harris’ favour is the fact that he pitched nearly 130 innings between college and the Vancouver Canadians last season. Having that baseline should allow the club to push Harris and prepare him for an impact 2017 in the upper minors or on the edge of the major league roster.