Trinity’s Trevor Harrison learning quickly in the Rays system

Trevor Harrison was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to pitching. A first baseman and catcher for most of his baseball career, he found the switch to the mound in his junior year of high school wasn’t that hard.

“In high school, if you throw hard, you’re going to be successful,” Harrison said. “But this is a whole new thing.”

This is pitching professionally.

A year ago, Harrison was drafted out of Mitchell High School in the fifth round (No. 156 overall) — as a right-handed pitcher — by the Rays.

So he’s kind of learning on the job.

“But when you get here, it’s like, well, everybody throws hard here, and you just need to learn how to pitch and what pitches to do and what to throw in different situations,” he said.

Harrison, whose family is based in Palm Harbor and Trinity, is apparently a quick learner. After twice winning the Florida Complex League Pitcher of the Week honors, he was promoted from the Rays’ FCL team in Port Charlotte earlier this month to their low Class-A affiliate in Charleston.

“I think Trevor was even more athletic than we thought,” Rays director of amateur scouting Chuck Ricci said. “He’s done well and learned quickly.”

In eight appearances, seven starts, with the FCL Rays, Harrison pitched to a 3.58 ERA. He struck out 39 with eight walks over 32 ⅔ innings. Since being promoted to the RiverDogs, Harrison has made two starts, with a 4.70 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 7 ⅔ innings pitched.

For Harrison, who had committed to Florida State before deciding to turn pro, this is one long lesson as he not only adjusts to the new competition level but explores what he can do as a pitcher.

“My big focus is just to keep learning,” Harrison said. “You can never know too much. So, just learning something new every day. When I go in there, going in there with the purpose to learn something.”

Harrison signed with the Rays as a 17-year-old for third-round compensation based on his potential. He featured a fastball that sat in the low 90s, a slider and a changeup.

Now, “I am definitely learning new approaches and how to pitch and what to do in what situations and stuff like that,” Harrison said. “I am learning how to read hitters.”

While this has been a lot of learning on the job, Harrison also has the comfort of familiarity, too. Unlike some of the guys he was drafted with and those who were taken this week, Harrison grew up with the Rays.

He went to Tropicana Field for games as a kid and knows the organization well.

“I still don’t even think it’s real to this day. It’s just such a lifelong dream, growing up being a huge baseball fan and going to games, and seeing Evan Longoria and David Price when they were playing,” Harrison said. “I grew up wanting to be there and wanting to play for the Rays. ...

“It was weird being on the other side of it, like, usually I’m out in the stands, right where all the fans are and everything. And then being able to be in the offices and walking around on the field as officially a Tampa Bay, Ray was a little surreal.”

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