Fri. Recap: Big arms on display

Thursday Recap | Video Vault


 Missouri State 1, Southern Illinois 0

Every spring there seems to be a handful of players who continuously increase their draft stock, taking off from the start of the season and rise up until June. While the “most helium of 2015” award goes to Georgia prep catcher Tyler Stephenson, two collegiate arms have also increased their stock significantly in Illinois’ Tyler Jay and Missouri State’s Jon Harris. This weekend Harris and his Missouri State teammates are in the state of Illinois taking on the Salukis of Southern Illinois in a Missouri Valley Conference showdown. Once again ace righthander Jon Harris was given the ball and he dazzled over 7 2/3 innings before a blister forced him to call it a night.

Listed at 6-foot-4, 190-pounds, Harris has very long and loose limbs along with plenty of room to fill, making it easy to envision Harris adding an additional 20 pounds of muscle without impacting his game. Staying tall through the backside of his delivery, Harris is plenty athletic which allows him to stay balanced and repeat his mechanics exceptionally well, enabling him to live low and pound the zone. Like his delivery, Harris’ arm action is loose and fluid with solid extension at release, helping to give his fastball that extra hop the last couple of feet.

Viewed as a potential first rounder heading into the 2015 season, Harris has solidified himself as a definite first round talent throughout the spring and has continued to creep up the rankings. Going in the top 15 in June wouldn’t be too much of a surprise, especially after his performance last night. In his sixth Missouri Valley Conference start, Harris recorded his fourth performance with double-digit strikeouts, raising his season total to 99 over 82 1/3 innings this spring. A statistic from last night that was more impressive was the fact that he didn’t issue any walks, staying in complete control throughout the game allowing just two singles to lead off the fourth and sixth innings.