Brewers' left-handed starter catches the eye of ESPN's top prospect evaluator

Milwaukee Brewers fans are quickly getting to know recently acquired left-handed starter Kyle Harrison, who came over from the Boston Red Sox in the Caleb Durbin deal. So far, the vibes around him are strong, as he has tied franchise icon CC Sabathia for the most strikeouts (14) by a left-hander over his first two starts with the team.

But before Harrison arrived in Milwaukee, he was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the third round of the 2020 MLB Draft out of De La Salle High School in Concord, California. He was a former Top 100 MLB prospect, made his MLB debut in 2023, and later posted a 4.48 ERA across 182.2 innings in 35 starts with the Giants before being traded to the Red Sox in June of 2025 in a deal centered around Rafael Devers.

Even before arriving in Milwaukee, Harrison had already caught the attention of ESPN prospect evaluator Kiley McDaniel. McDaniel, who began his career as a scout in 2005 and later rose to Assistant Director of Baseball Operations with the Atlanta Braves, once ranked Harrison among the top 50 prospects in all of baseball.

Now McDaniel is once again praising Harrison, pointing to the former top prospect as a pitcher who could finally put everything together during the 2026 season.

Milwaukee Brewers' starter Kyle Harrison is once again catching the eye of prospect evaluator Kiley McDaniel

Over at ESPN, McDaniel highlighted that, despite two challenging seasons, Harrison has made noticeable improvements: he’s added two miles per hour to his fastball, and he has raised his arm slot to generate more life on the four-seamer. Additionally, he has gained significantly more movement on his changeup -- a result of him adopting a kick-change -- and maintained the sinker that the Red Sox added to his repertoire. Be sure to check out McDaniels' and all of ESPN's "hot takes" through the first two weeks of the season, which are free to read over at ESPN.com and linked below.

2026 MLB predictions: Our hottest hot takes two weeks in

On the field, the improvements to Harrison’s fastball are paying off. This season, he’s generating swings-and-misses on his four-seamer 34.7% of the time, with 11 of his 14 strikeouts coming on the pitch. Over his MLB career, that figure had hovered between 23–26%, showing that the adjustments McDaniel highlighted are having a significant impact.

Harrison’s early-season dominance shows that the changes he’s made are translating into real results on the mound. If he maintains this level of performance, 2026 could be the year he puts everything together, as McDaniel is projecting, which would give the Brewers' a talented, left-handed presence in their rotation for years to come.