As Spring Training nears its end and Opening Day grows closer, Milwaukee Brewers lefty Kyle Harrison is trying to earn a spot in the rotation.

After Sunday’s performance against the Seattle Mariners, he is headed in the right direction. 

Harrison got the starting nod in Milwaukee’s 6-3 win over the Mariners and produced a dominant three-inning outing. He notched eight strikeouts. His only blemishes during his time on the hill were two walks and a home run. 

After the game, Harrison talked about the importance of staying on the mound. 

“It's more important to get out there and get those ups and stay in the game for a long amount of time,” Harrison told the media. “Cause that's ultimately what you wanna do during the season. So good to just mix it up with all the pitches and stay in the zone for the most part on most of them and keep building on that one. 

“So yeah, just looking next time out to keep building on that, hopefully go a little longer, and yeah, that's the goal here.” 

Harrison, 24, came to the Brewers in a Feb. 9 trade with the Boston Red Sox that saw multiple Brewers infielders head to Boston. According to his Baseball Savant profile, Harrison has a four-pitch profile that is dominated by a four-seam fastball (59% usage rate). 

On Sunday, Harrison was happy with the fastball, slider and changeup. 

“Pleased with the heater,” he said. “Just staying in my legs, getting to my arm side — especially the slider took a step forward today. I thought I was able to show it in the zone, get it more to my glove side.  

“And then the changeup as well today, was able to get some stuff below the zone," Harrison said. "Feel like I'm getting more of a feel of the strike pitches I want, going strike to ball. So yeah, man, just refining those and trying to get better.” 

For Harrison, there is a level of improvement he wants to achieve with each of his pitches.  

“I'd say all pitchers are kind of a work in progress, right? That's how I'm gonna be with them,” Harrison said. “I'm always gonna try to be making them — trying to want to make them better. Ideally today, I thought I could have put it in some better locations or used it more to get a strike out here and there.  

“So yeah, man, that's been the name of the game," Harrison continued. "But definitely getting confident in that pitch and throwing it with conviction, that's the biggest part. Selling it like a heater.” 

As of Sunday, Harrison did not have word about what the start of the regular season will look like in terms of his rotation spot. 

“I haven't been told anything," Harrison said. "So, just gonna keep trying to attack my business day by day. Hopefully that leads me in a good spot. And I'm just gonna do everything I can each day to get better, man. 

“That's all I can do, and to control the things I control, like we all say. But definitely, I'm just gonna stick in my routine and work on that change or work on that slider every day, man. So it never stops.” 

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