HarriSlam! Crew prospect racks up 7 RBIs in AFL tilt

October 20th, 2017

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- After a strong regular season, Monte Harrison got off to a slow start in the Arizona Fall League, but got back on track with a pair of homers in Salt River's 10-4 win over Glendale on Friday.
The Brewers' No. 14 prospect hit a grand slam in the fourth and a two-run homer in the ninth on his way to a 3-for-5, seven-RBI performance in the Rafters' third straight win.
"It's just trusting the process and letting the whole thing work," Harrison said. "… I got some good pitches to hit and drove them out of the ballpark."
Box score
Harrison was just 1-for-11 entering the day, but instantly broke out of his slump with a grand slam.
The homer, which traveled 386 feet into the left-field bullpen, gave the Rafters a 4-3 lead and had an exit velocity of 104 mph, according to TrackMan.
"He had a fastball that had a little rise to it," Harrison said. "Once I fouled off a couple of those, he really couldn't throw me anything that could get me out, so I was very confident at the plate. He gave me a pitch that I could drive and I tried not to do too much to it, just put barrel on it."
Barreling pitches up certainly isn't new for Harrison. The 22-year-old entered 2017 with a career high of six homers, but obliterated that mark as he hit 21 over 122 games with Class A Wisconsin and Class A Advanced Carolina. Harrison had a pair of two-homer games during the regular season and now has one in the AFL.
After driving in a run with a base hit in the fifth, Harrison put the finishing touches on the win with a two-run homer in the ninth as he crushed a hanging slider out to left-center field.

Not only did Harrison increase his power numbers this season, but he also posted a career-best slash line, hitting .272/.350/.481.
"Just trusting and believing that the stuff I worked on in the offseason was going to work and then injuries the past few season really held me back," Harrison said of his breakout campaign. "I just trusted that my body was in a good position -- I worked out hard enough, did what I had to do and whatever was going to happen, would happen."
While Harrison's grand slam got the scoring started in the fourth, the Rafters also put up a four-spot in the fifth via RBI hits from Ryan Mountcastle (Orioles No. 3), Corey Ray (Brewers' No. 2, MLB No. 58), Harrison and Peter Mooney (Marlins). Over the two innings, the club sent 18 batters to the plate and scored eight runs on seven hits.
, Indians No. 1 and MLB No. 13, provided the bulk of the offense for Glendale as he went 4-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.