While most of Philadelphia was watching the Eagles clinch their spot in Super Bowl 57, Dave Dombrowski was looking for ways to improve the Phillies. Josh Harrison was signed by the team on Sunday, giving the Phils their own reason to feel good.
Harrison’s agency announced in the first quarter of the Eagles’ game that veteran utilityman Josh Harrison had signed a 1-year, 2 million-dollar contract with the Phillies. Harrison likely takes Nick Maton’s spot on the bench, which was left vacant by the Gregory Soto trade.
Sound Familiar?
If you think the name Josh Harrison sounds familiar, that is because it is. Josh Harrison is a former 2-time All-Star and has even finished in the top 10 of MVP voting in his career.
Harrison played for the Phillies organization in 2020 but did not make the roster for the shortened season. He would then request his release and joined the Washington Nationals for the rest of the season.
He has spent time all around Major League Baseball and the last few seasons in Oakland and Chicago with the Athletics and White Sox, respectively.
Coming off the Bench
Josh Harrison is a really good player to have coming off the bench for the Phillies.
He can play all infield positions but is primarily a second and third baseman. Pairing with Edmundo Sosa off the bench, Josh Harrison provides borderline elite defense. He becomes an upgrade defensively over Alec Bohm at third, and as we saw with Sosa last season, he can enter the game late as a defensive replacement.
Harrison is no slouch at the plate, either. Josh is a career .272 hitter and has good speed even though he is in his mid-thirties. Last season with the White Sox, Harrison hit 19 doubles in his 119 games with the team.
Josh Harrison’s most significant skill set is that he is versatile. Versatility is clearing something that Rob Thomson prioritizes with his teams, and we saw how much he likes to plug and play last season. Josh will give Topper that flexibility in a multitude of ways in 2023.
