By Chris Brown – STL Baseball Today

The Cardinals announced Saturday morning that they’ve recalled U.S. Navy Lieutenant Mitch Harris from AAA Memphis for Saturday’s Fourth of July game against the San Diego Padres at Busch Stadium. In a corresponding roster move, the team optioned infielder Greg Garcia to Memphis.

“Obviously this is awesome,” Harris told KMOV’s Elizabeth Eisele. “I love to come back on this day. It’s a great part of the story, but I want to pitch and help the team out on the mound.”

Harris, 29, appeared in 16 games for the major-league club this season before he was optioned to Memphis two weeks ago when the club called up Garcia and first baseman Xavier Scruggs. The right-hander  posted a 3.63 ERA with a 9/10 strikeouts/walks ratio over 17 1/3 big-league innings, but has allowed three earned runs over 5 1/3 innings upon his return to the minors, with opponents hitting .318 against him.

Despite those results (in limited innings), Harris believes he has become more consistent on throwing first pitch strikes and has worked on taking advantage of the count and on his curveball.

“No one wants to be sent down,” he told KMOV. “Once I got through that first thought of ‘Oh, man I got sent down,’ I realized it was a really good thing. Now that I’m back I realize it helped me out on the mound both physically and mentally. I’m excited to get back out there.”

The 25-year-old Garcia has made the most of his limited time with the Cardinals this season, with .417 with a homer in just 12 at-bats. He’ll return to a an impressive .313 average with 10 doubles, 25 RBI, and 9 stolen bases down at Memphis. Garcia will continue to serve as valuable infield depth for the major-league team and is likely to get another shot before long.

 

Feature image used under Creative Commons from Ron Cogswell. No changes made. Image License.