FORT MYERS, Fla. – While talented 2015 Georgia prospect Bryant Harris might have gone missing for several months last summer and fall, he didn’t vanish from the face of the earth. He never said bye-bye to baseball to go lie on a secluded Tahitian island beach or to meditate on a remote Tibetan mountaintop.
No, Harris has always been right here, eagerly diving head-first into his senior year at Luella High School in Locust Grove, Ga., working to come back as strong as ever from a knee injury that cost him nearly all of the 2014 summer and fall travel ball seasons.
And just to prove that his whereabouts are anything but unknown, Harris is here this weekend for the 18th rendition of the Perfect Game World Showcase, taking place Saturday and Sunday at historic Terry Park.
The PG World runs simultaneously with the PG World Uncommitted Showcase and the PG National Underclass East Showcase. More than 300 high school prospects from across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands are taking part in the three events.
Harris is a 6-foot-2, 205-pound outfielder who calls Hampton, Ga. – a southeastern suburb in the Atlanta Metropolitan Area – home. He is the 135th overall national prospect (No. 30 outfielder) and 18th overall Georgia prospect in Perfect Game’s class of 2015 rankings, and has signed a letter of intent with the University of Tennessee. He has participated in more than 20 PG events since June 2011.
“The injury that I had that set me down for the summer and the fall, it made me want to come out here and get some AB’s in front of some of the pro guys that might have missed (seeing) me over the summer and the fall,” Harris told PG at warm and humid Terry Park Saturday morning. “I just wanted to get back on the field again before the high school season.”
Harris tore one of his quadriceps while playing with the Homeplate Chilidogs at the 17u Perfect Game-East Cobb Invitation in early June. He initially thought he might be able to play through the injury, and even performed at the Perfect Game National Showcase a week after getting hurt.
At the National, however, he only threw from the outfield and took his batting practice swings; he did not run the 60-yard dash or play in any games. But he still earned a perfect 10.0 PG Grade for his efforts and was named to the elite event’s Top Prospect Team. It was his final PG appearance of the summer.
He ran the 60 here Saturday morning and turned in a very respectable time of 6.88-seconds, although that’s well short of the personal-best of 6.72 he clocked at the 2013 Southeast Top Prospect Showcase in Marietta, Ga. The 6.88 clocking was a top-25 effort here Saturday morning.
“I feel real good today, and if the turf was just a little bit more satisfying I think all of us would have had better times,” Harris said before learning what sort of time he had clocked. “But I felt good and everything feels fine.”
Harris completed rehabbing his injury at the end of the October, or about the same time he should have been wrapping up his second straight appearance at the PG WWBA World Championship. He would have been playing at the championship a second time with the Homeplate Chilidogs, for whom he’s played the last two travel ball seasons.
“He’s got all the tools that you could ask for from a baseball player,” Homeplate Baseball owner, head coach and former minor-leaguer Lloyd Thompson told PG on Saturday. “He can run, he’s got pop, he’s got plus-arm strength; the ball sounds different off his bat from most people. He’s a quiet kid who works hard … and he’s learned how to take care of himself.”
Harris has spent the early winter months back home in Hampton working with a trainer and getting his daily batting cage work in with one of his closest friends, PG All-American and No. 2-ranked 2015 national prospect Daz Cameron. The two players do not attend the same high school but live within about 10 minutes of one another in the Atlanta suburbs.
“Me and Daz, we hang out all the time and he’s my partner when we work-out,” Harris said. “Ever since we were about 12 (years old) we’ve just been pushing each other back and forth to be better. He’s been winning the race (lately) and it’s been hard, but it’s just been really cool to have somebody your age there to work with.”
Harris’ high school career has largely paralleled that of Cameron’s and had he been healthy and turned in a more complete performance at the PG National, he might have joined his good friend at the PG All-American Classic in San Diego last August. Four other All-Americans – Harris’ Homeplate teammate Tristan English, Parker Kelly, Nick Shumpert and Danny Reyes – are at the PG World this weekend.
There have been high points in Harris’ PG career, of course. He was named to prestigious Top Prospect Lists at both the 2012 PG National Underclass Showcase-Main Event and the 2013 Southeast Top Prospect Showcase and was a PG Underclass All-American in both 2013 and 2014. It all sort of came natural to him at an early age.
“It seems like that ever since I was (very young) I was the fastest guy on every team so they would put me in the outfield,” Harris said, “and then, it just became fun shagging balls and things like that. I learned more about the game by reading books and watching TV and stuff, and it really just kind of clicked; I didn’t really like any other sport.”
He cherishes his associations with both PG and the Homeplate Chilidogs. The numerous PG events have provided him with the opportunity to meet his peers in the baseball world, all those young prospects like himself whose goals and ambitions match his own. The friendships he has made are unrivaled and will like last a lifetime, he presumes.
At Homeplate, he’s learned how to play the game the right way, following the examples of Thompson, Chilidogs coach Esteban Maldonado and the guys he’s shared a dugout and a playing field with the last two years.
“He’s a good teammate and he gets along with all the kids on our team,” Thompson said. “He dishes (the talk) out and sometimes he doesn’t take it as well coming back as he dishes it out, but that happens to a lot of people. He’s just a good guy to have on the team.”
Harris initially committed to the University of Georgia but that relationship did not last; he has now signed Rocky Top, staying in the SEC. Once Georgia withdrew its scholarship offer, Harris stepped back and watched many more doors open up quickly and widely
“A bunch of better schools, in my opinion, came back to the table with offers and I chose Tennessee because they had the best outlook on what could happen if I don’t get drafted (in June),” he said. “That involved my education as far as after high school or if I wanted to come back to the university to finish my education, then I could do that.
“They just had my best interests (at heart),” he continued. “They understand what the draft means to (top prospects) and they had my best interests and still made an offer and trusted in (me).”
On signing day, Volunteers’ recruiting coordinator Aric Thomas issued a statement praising Harris: “Bryant has big-time offensive tools. The ball just jumps off his bat and he has a lot of power in his right-handed swing. As a right-handed power hitter, he has a chance to be an impact offensive player for us as a freshman.
“Defensively, he can really go get it in the outfield … (and) has great arm strength, too, which give him the ability to play all three outfield positons and will make him a versatile outfield player.”
Harris’ current focus is on getting himself both physically and mentally ready for his senior season at Luella High, but he won’t deny looking ahead to the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft June 8-10.
“That’s my ultimate goal, to be honest,” Harris said of being selected in the draft and ultimately playing in the big leagues. “It’s just been my dream ever since I found out you can get drafted out of high school. Don’t get me wrong, I love school and getting an education is very high on my list.
“But right now as far as getting the (letter-of-intent) signing out of the way, I want to focus on the draft and play as hard as I can so I can drafted as high as I can and see where I can take my career.”
Added Thompson: “I know he does want to be a big-leaguer. He’s got a good opportunity at Tennessee, but I think any kid out here (Saturday) wants to play in the big leagues someday, whether it’s sooner or later. He could be, if he gets it all together, he could be really, really good just because he has all the tools; there’s not too many kids who have all the tools at his age.”
Standout Georgia prep outfield prospect Bryant Harris didn’t vanish into thin air when he went down with a knee injury in June, and he felt the best way to prove that to the MLB scouting community was to show up here in Southwest Florida this weekend for the PG World Showcase, a long-running event that has sent 103 of its alumni into the major leagues.
“I didn’t want people to get the idea that I fell off the map,” Harris said. “I wanted to get back out here and show them that I can still do what I did before I tore my quad. I just want to let people know that I really haven’t went anywhere. I haven’t been around at any events or any tournaments or anything, so I just want to make sure that people know I’m not still hurt or that I’ve quit baseball or something like that.”