Former Navy officer to join St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen
WASHINGTON -- Former Navy man Mitch Harris has made it to the majors, ready to join the St. Louis Cardinals' bullpen.
The 29-year-old pitcher is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. The Hall of Fame says it believes the only Naval Academy graduate to appear in the major leagues was pitcher Nemo Gaines for the 1921 Washington Senators.
Harris graduated from the Naval Academy as an ensign in 2008. He was selected by the Cardinals on the 13th round of the 2008 amateur draft and started his professional baseball career in 2013. According to MLB.com, the Cardinals were forced to wait after drafting him because he had a service commitment of five years to the Navy.
Harris tweeted:
Harris, who is from Ocala, Florida, had a 1.86 ERA in eight spring training appearances for the Cardinals this year.
Harris told MLB.com that when he returned to the Cardinals after five years of service, he had lost at least 12-14 mph on his fastball.
"I was terrified," Harris said. "I was thinking, 'I wonder if everyone else is thinking what I'm thinking, which is, 'This guy doesn't belong here. Why is he here?' I knew it was in there. I knew my body felt great. It was, 'Can I stretch this out to get it back to where I know it can be and progress more than where I was?' I knew I could get stronger. But yeah, I was really worried."
St. Louis placed outfielder Peter Bourjos on the paternity leave list Tuesday and selected the contract of Harris from Triple-A Memphis. The right-hander had two saves and a 2.45 ERA for Memphis this year.
St. Louis designated outfielder Gary Brown for assignment to open a spot on the 40-man roster.