Immediately after news broke that the Boston Red Sox traded Kyle Harrison to the Milwaukee Brewers as part of the package for Caleb Durbin, many Sox fans couldn't help but look back to the 2025 Quinn Priester trade.
The early returns on Harrison's time with the Brewers suggest they were right to do so. Brewers beat reporter Cyrt Hogg on March 4 highlighted a new pitch in Harrison's arsenal — one the Red Sox tried and failed to teach him (subscription required).
Harrison arrived to Milwaukee's spring training camp in Arizona with a new changeup in his repertoire. The kick-change has vertical movement that makes it look like a splitter while still flying with changeup spin. It's an excellent compliment for his hallmark rising fastball which pairs with his low arm angle and 71st percentile extension to confuse hitters.
The lefty flexed his new pitch during the Brewers' March 3 exhibition game against Great Britain's World Baseball Classic team. He pitched three scoreless innings, let up two hits and one walk, and fanned two batters. Twenty-eight of Harrison's 40 pitches went for strikes.
Former Red Sox pitcher Kyle Harrison debuts a deadly kick-change to compliment his fastball in first Brewers appearance
Kyle Harrison, WHAT IS THAT CHANGEUP? pic.twitter.com/rAk9qGjRf5
— Pitch Profiler (@pitchprofiler) March 3, 2026
Hogg reports that the Red Sox attempted to teach Harrison a changeup with top prospect Connelly Early's grip, but he could never get a handle on the pitch. Harrison tried new grips throughout the offseason and arrived to camp with the new offering, surprising his coaches.
Like Harrison seems primed to do, Priester also thrived with the Brewers organization following his trade from Boston. He was a former first-round pick who hadn't delivered in the Red Sox organization (although they only had him for less than nine months), so they traded him to the Brewers for a Competitive Balance pick and outfield prospect Yophery Rodriguez. Then, Priester posted a 3.32 ERA over 157.1 innings.
The Red Sox could've given Harrison another year to establish himself, but they had more than enough pitching depth to trade to land Durbin to fill their infield vacancy. Harrison must not have stood out to Craig Breslow amid Boston's new pool of pitching depth and prospect talent after he issued five walks in 12 big league innings with the Sox.
The Durbin-Harrison trade wasn't a bad move, but it will sting to see one of the pieces of the Devers trade potentially thrive with another team, especially the one that helped Priester find his way in the major leagues. At least the Red Sox have plenty of other promising young pitchers to look forward to seeing in the coming seasons.