Prospect A to Z Day 8: James Harris

This is a new feature on the site, mainly because we're still in the doldrums of prospect season and we want to get discussion going. We'll be going through the alphabet in October and November to pick one prospect a day before our top prospect coverage starts in December. There's no real rhyme or reason to who we'll talk about, and we're open to suggestions for some letters.


Harris was the Rays final supplemental draft pick, a raw high school outfielder from California. Here's the BaseballAmerica report on him from the draft:

Outfielder James Harris looks great in a uniform with his 6-foot-1, 175-pound athletic frame. He's raw and may need two years in Rookie ball, but he has huge upside. Harris is an explosive athlete. He is a well above-average runner, with a 37-inch vertical leap, and can fly on the bases and in center field. He has below-average arm strength, but enough for center field. A righthanded hitter, Harris is patient at the plate, trying to get on base any way possible, and some scouts wonder if he's actually too passive. He also shows some raw power. Harris has not committed to a college, so he should be signable.

Harris was also one of the youngest players in the draft, or at least the top few rounds. It's something we mentioned on the podcast relating to Rany Jazayerli's study at Baseball Prospectus, which you should check out.

Harris hit .165/.253/.203 for the GCL Rays in 45 games and should play with Princeton in 2012.