WEST SACRAMENTO -- Hogan Harris takes a backseat to the several budding young stars on the Athletics whenever this team is discussed. His value to the club over these first three weeks, however, can’t go unnoticed.
There are no set roles in the A’s bullpen. Any pitcher can be summoned at any moment. Rather than defining roles, manager Mark Kotsay refers to the process as trying to establish a “rhythm” among the eight relievers.
Harris epitomizes that philosophy. During last week’s 5-1 road trip through New York against the Yankees and Mets, we saw the left-hander thrive as he was utilized in multiple different situations.
April 8 at Yankees: Harris replaced Scott Barlow in a 2-2 game with two outs in the bottom of the seventh and issued two walks before striking out Cody Bellinger to end the inning. Then, he went back out to start the eighth and struck out Ben Rice for the first out before exiting in an eventual 3-2 win.
April 9 at Yankees: Harris closed out a 1-0 victory with a scoreless ninth by retiring Bellinger, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Rice in order to notch his first save of the year.
April 12 at Mets: Harris replaced starter Aaron Civale with two on and two outs in the bottom of the sixth and retired pinch-hitter Mark Vientos to preserve a one-run lead, then returned for the seventh and struck out Bo Bichette and Brett Baty for the first two outs before getting pulled for Scott Barlow in what ended up a 1-0 victory at Citi Field.
It takes a certain mindset to stay ready in that bullpen for quite literally any situation, and Harris -- the lone lefty in the A’s bullpen -- has that.
“We’re trying to put him in the best situation every game,” A’s pitching coach Scott Emerson said before Friday’s 9-2 loss to the White Sox at Sutter Health Park. “If the game is on the line in the fifth or sixth, he might be in. On the line in the seventh or eighth, he might be in the game. If the game’s on the line in the ninth and the lefties are [up], he’s in the game. We’ve got a lot of confidence in him. When the game is a little bit tougher, he rises to the occasion.”
It can be a struggle for relievers to operate without a defined role. If you ask Harris, though, this bullpen setup is most ideal for him, given how he’s wired.
“I’m more of a guy who is just vibing out until a starter gets to like 60 [pitches] and then I get ready to go,” Harris said. “I think that works out better than if you think you’re a ninth-inning guy, but then all of a sudden you’re going into the game in the sixth, now you have no mental preparation. You have to hurry up, and you’re kind of out of it. So, I kind of like the fact that there’s no set [roles].”
Harris did not always have this mentality. It was something forged through the struggles of coming up through the Minors as a top prospect and failing as a starter in the big leagues for a couple of years. Last season, Harris came to grips with the fact that, if he was going to stick in the Majors, it was likely going to be as a reliever, and he embraced that new chapter of his career.
In 2025, Harris pitched in 48 games for the A’s -- all in relief -- and posted a 3.20 ERA. Through that transition to the bullpen and watching former A’s closer Mason Miller go about his preparation, Harris developed what he calls “an F-you mentality” on the mound.
“It just kind of naturally came at Triple-A [in 2025] and they were like, ‘All right, we’re going to put you in the late innings to get you used to that,’” Harris said. “When I came back up, it just felt like second nature at that point. Then, watching Mason just hanging out, and then all of a sudden you see him go stone-faced, I learned how to turn that switch right as I’m walking out of the bullpen.”
Harris, the reliever, is a different man. He wants to take the ball in any big moment with a goal of appearing in 80-plus games this year. And he’s been essential to the A’s early success, as he entered Friday tied for the second-most games pitched (11) and 10th among MLB relievers with four holds.
“You can see the level of intensity about him,” Kotsay said. “Especially when he’s closing games, the velocity goes up. We’ve leaned on him pretty hard here early. That says a lot about the confidence and the value to this club that he’s providing right now.”