Today's profile is the last of the non-roster invitees players to go through this series, and for some reason it seems fitting to give that honor to former – Mets killer, Willie Harris. Harris was essentially the 4th OF for the Nationals but for some reason every time he played the Mets he became Willie Mays with his defense and his bat. If the minor league signing of Harris has been good for anything, at least he will not be able to play against us in the regular season.
And we are talking a Met killer here. There have been multiple times were the Mets were trailing the Nationals late in a game, and who ever the Mets batter would hit a line drive, a line drive that could put the Mets ahead, and some how every time Willie Harris was there to make a Sports Center-esque catch. This year he will be battling in camp to make it on the 40 man and then to Queens. The main obstacle in his path is Scott Hairston, who is a similar player to Harris, and has a major league contract. Here are some Harris stats:
2010 – 224 AB, 132 G, 25 R, 41 H, 6 2B, 2 3B, 10 HR, 32 RBI, .183 BA, .291 OBP, .362 SLG
Career – .239 AB, .327 OBP, .357 SLG
Here's a surprising nugget of information. Since Harris has been in the bigs (2001), he has hit only 37 homers, and 10 of them came last year. Aside from his small power boost last season, his numbers are pretty much inline with what we expect from him. If he does make the team, it will really be by glove alone because he does not bring much game with his bat. Personally, I feel the Mets have a lot more options than Willie Harris to turn to, so unless he has an amazing Spring Training, I don't see him going north with the team (that is not a bold prediction at all) but I wouldn't rule out a midseason call-up if necessary.
