Lucas Harrell

Lucas William Bradley Harrell

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 6'2, Weight 200
• High School Ozark (MO) High School
• Debut July 30, 2010
• Final Game July 16, 2017
• Born June 3, 1985 in Springfield, MO USA

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Biographical Information

Lucas Harrell was a standout amateur athlete, lettering in both basketball and baseball at Ozark (MO) High School. On the diamond he led his team to the state championship as an infielder and starting pitcher. He was signed by the Chicago White Sox and scouts Alex Slattery and Nathan Durst as a 4th round pick in the 2004 amateur draft.

Harrell made his pro debut in 2004 with the Bristol White Sox and then spent the next summer with the Kannapolis Intimidators, going 7-11 with a 3.65 ERA and 85 strikeouts in 26 starts. He began 2006 with the Winston-Salem Warthogs and went 7-2 with a 2.45 ERA in 17 starts and earned a spot on the Carolina League All-Star team. He was promoted to the Birmingham Barons in mid-July and made three starts for the team before being sidelined by a shoulder injury for the remainder of the season after just three outings.

Harrell missed the entire 2007 campaign due to elbow surgery. The Sox added him to the 40-man roster in 2008 to protect him from the Rule V Draft.

Harrell reached the big leagues with the Sox in 2010, making his debut in a start against the Oakland Athletics on July 30th, taking the place of Daniel Hudson, who had been traded earlier in the day to the Arizona Diamondbacks. He pitched 6 innings, allowing 4r hits and 1 run (but walking 5) and got credit for the win. He finished the season 1-0, 4.88 in 8 games. He pitched 3 times for the White Sox in 2011, with no decisions, before being placed on waivers and being claimed by the Houston Astros on July 8th. He pitched 6 times for Houston, with a record of 0-2, 3.46.

Harrell surprised the Astros by winning a spot in the starting rotation in spring training of 2012. He made his first start of the season on April 7th, facing 49-year-old Jamie Moyer in his return to the major leagues after a year-and-a-half away. He was outstanding, keeping the Colorado Rockies off the scoreboard in 7 innings to earn his first National League win. He continued to pitch well as the season progressed, and on June 27th was credited with his first career shutout, a 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres, striking out Nick Hundley with the bases loaded to end the game. That brought his record on the season to 7-6, and his ERA stood at 4.33. He finished the year at 11-11, 3.76 in 32 starts and 193 2/3 innings. Things went awry for Lucas in 2013 however, after the Astros moved to the American League. He led the AL in two negative categories: losses with 17 and walks with 88. In 36 appearances, he made 22 starts and finished at 6-17, 5.86. In 2013, he made only 3 starts, losing all three with a 9.49 ERA. On April 28]th, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for future considerations and he spent the remainder of the year with the AAA Reno Aces, where he was 6-4, 5.15 in 22 games (20 starts).

Harrell spent the 2015 season in the Korea Baseball Organization with the LG Twins where he was 10-11, 4.93. He returned to the States in 2016, signing with the Detroit Tigers organization. He was 3-1, 3.34 in 6 starts between AA and AAA then obtained his release on May 16th in order to sign with the Atlanta Braves, in the hope of standing a better chance of making it back to the majors. That is exactly what happened as after 9 appearances with the AAA Gwinnett Braves, he was called up to Atlanta at the beginning of July. He was solid in 5 starts for the Braves, with a record of 2-2, 3.38, which prompted a trade to a contending team in need of starting pitching. On July 27th, he and Dario Alvarez were sent to the Texas Rangers in return for minor league IF Travis Demeritte. He pitched just 4 times for Texas, going 1-0. he then made four relief appearances with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2017 to complete his big league career.

Related Sites

• Lucas Harrell on mlb.com