Brewers, Nationals pitchers looking to prove themselves

Kyle Harrison is showing the promise that once placed him among the San Francisco Giants' top prospects.

Now with the Milwaukee Brewers, the southpaw is taking his 1-0 record, 2.61 ERA and 14 strikeouts into his start Saturday against the visiting Washington Nationals in the second game of a three-game series.

"I think everyone has known that this kid's got a chance to be pretty damn good," Brewers manager Pat Murphy told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "So, yeah, he's showing me something. He's got a long ways to go and he knows it, and it'll be fun."

Harrison was traded from the Giants to Boston as part of the Rafael Devers trade last June. On Feb. 9, the Brewers acquired him from the Red Sox as part of a six-player trade in hopes he could move into the rotation as a replacement for the departed Freddy Peralta.

After starting 24 games for San Francisco in 2024 (7-7, 4.93 ERA), Harrison split 2025 between the majors and Triple-A for both the Giants and Red Sox.

So far, Harrison has looked good as a Milwaukee starter.

On March 30, in his first start, he threw 87 pitches over five innings, allowing four hits, one run and one walk and struck out eight in a no-decision in a 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays.

On Sunday, in an 8-5 win over the Kansas City Royals, he threw 90 pitches in 5 1/3 innings, striking out six and walking two. Five of the strikeouts came on a four-seam fastball.

"That's where we start," Harrison told the Journal Sentinel. "All my pitches tunnel off the fastball, and it's important to get ahead in counts and attack these hitters and try to get into the dugout as quick as possible."

Harrison is 10-9 lifetime with a 4.30 ERA in 44 MLB appearances (39 starts). He is 0-1 with a 4.30 ERA in three starts against the Nationals.

Washington will counter with left-hander Foster Griffin (0-0, 1.80 ERA), who pitched the past three seasons in Japan.

The 30-year-old is 2-0 lifetime with a 4.50 ERA in nine appearances (two starts). He has never faced the Brewers.

The Nationals bullpen has struggled in the early season, tagged for three losses. More significant is the relievers' ERA of 5.92, which was the third-highest in the majors entering play Saturday, and their one save compared to four blown saves.

Friday night was different. After starter Jake Irvin gave up three runs in five innings, four Washington relievers combined for four shutout innings with only two hits.

The effort kept the game close so the Nationals could score the tying run in the seventh inning and then four in the ninth for a 7-3 win.

Paxton Schultz, who threw one of the innings Friday, has helped stabilize the bullpen by throwing two shutout innings in two games since his recall from Triple A Rochester this week.

Nationals manager Blake Butera is not in panic mode because of the bullpen.

"Don't wanna overreact to a guy having a rough outing, but also wanna give other bullpen arms opportunities to earn leverage roles, so it's a combination," Butera told Sports Illustrated. "You obviously wanna win every night, but also you're balancing not overreacting to a couple games versus trying to put your best arms out there."

Cionel Perez, PJ Poulin and Clayton Beeter also threw scoreless innings Friday for the Nationals. Poulin picked up the win with a perfect eighth inning.

--Field Level Media