PHOENIX -- After seeing her son lose significant chunks of two straight seasons to broken bones, Monte Harrison's mother offered some advice: Drink more milk.
"I'm like, I drink milk all the time!" Harrison said.
The Brewers outfield prospect is healthy again and hopes to stay so after suffering a broken left ankle in 2015 and a fractured left hamate in 2016. Both injuries required surgery and limited Harrison, Milwaukee's second-round Draft pick in 2014, to 154 games over the past two regular seasons.
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After returning to Class A Wisconsin for the playoffs at about 80 percent of full strength, Harrison's hand was healed by the time he played in the Brewers' fall instructional league. He then spent the winter in Florida working with renowned athletic trainer Eric Cressey, whose clients include American League Cy Young Award winner Corey Kluber of the Indians.
Now 21, Harrison has seen an influx of high-ceiling center field prospects to Milwaukee's farm system. Four of the top seven players on MLBPipeline.com's list of the top Brewers prospects are center fielders acquired via Draft or trade since Harrison went pro: Lewis Brinson (No. 1), Corey Ray (No. 2), Trent Clark (No. 6) and Brett Phillips (No. 7). Harrison is currently No. 16 on that list, which will get an update this week.
"Whether there's 100 prospects in our organization or zero I'm still going to work," Harrison said. "But the guys in the organization, that definitely brings a fire. You've got to come out and compete, and I'm definitely a person that likes to be competitive. I'm a competitive guy. But I really try to focus on myself and try to go about my day every single day and work hard.
"When I first got here there were a couple guys, but now we've got all these guys from left to right. Very good guys, very good baseball players. The Brewers have got good things coming toward them in the big leagues."
Of that competition, he said, "It's either going to make you or break you, honestly. If you don't like competition they'll figure that out very quick. If you do, you'll fight."