Jonathan Richard Harris (born October 16, 1993) is an American

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

who is a free agent. He played

college baseball College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

, and was drafted by the

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games ...

in the first round of the

2015 Major League Baseball draft The 2015 Major League Baseball (MLB) First-Year Player Draft was held from June 8 through June 10, 2015, to assign amateur baseball players to MLB teams. The draft order is the reverse order of the 2014 MLB season standings. As the Diamondbacks ...

High school and college

Harris attended Hazelwood Central High School in St. Louis,

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

. He was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 33rd round of the

2012 Major League Baseball draft The 2012 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft was held from June 4 through June 6, 2012, from Studio 42 of the MLB Network in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Houston Astros, with the first overall pick, selected Carlos Correa from the Puerto R ...

but did not sign and played college baseball at

. As a freshman in 2013, Harris started 13 games going 8–2 with a 3.87

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the number ...

(ERA) and 61 strikeouts. As a sophomore, he appeared in 15 games with 11 starts. He went 3–5 with a 3.16 ERA, 66 strikeouts and two saves. After the 2014 season, he played

collegiate summer baseball Collegiate summer baseball leagues are amateur baseball leagues in the United States and Canada featuring players who have attended at least one year of college and have at least one year of athletic eligibility remaining. Generally, they operat ...

with the Harwich Mariners of the

Cape Cod Baseball League The Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL or Cape League) is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league located on Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. One of the nation's premier collegiate summer leagues, the league boasts over one thousan ...

. As a junior at MSU, he went 8–2 with a 2.45 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 15 starts.

Professional career

Toronto Blue Jays

Harris was considered one of the top prospects for the

. The

selected Harris in the first round, with the 29th overall selection, of the draft. He signed with Toronto on June 15, 2015. Harris played the entire 2015 season with the Short Season-A Vancouver Canadians, where he posted a 6.75

ERA An era is a span of time defined for the purposes of chronology or historiography, as in the regnal eras in the history of a given monarchy, a calendar era used for a given calendar, or the geological eras defined for the history of Earth. Compa ...

and 32 strikeouts in 36 innings pitched. He was assigned to the Class-A Lansing Lugnuts to open the 2016 minor league season. Harris was named an Eastern Division All-Star for Lansing on June 7. He made 16 starts for Lansing, posting an 8–2 record, 2.23 ERA, and 73 strikeouts in 84 innings before being promoted to the Advanced-A

Dunedin Blue Jays The Dunedin Blue Jays are a Minor League Baseball team of the Florida State League and are the Single-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays Major League Baseball club. They are located in Dunedin, Florida, and play their home games at TD Ballpark, ...

in mid July. Harris would make eight starts for Dunedin, and pitch to a 3–2 win–loss record, 3.60 ERA, and 26 strikeouts in 45 innings. Harris played the entire 2017 minor league season for the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats. He made 26 starts and posted a 7–11 record, 5.41 ERA, and 113 strikeouts in 143 innings pitched. On January 24, 2018, the Blue Jays invited Harris to spring training. Harris did not make the team and split the year between the Triple-A

Buffalo Bisons The Buffalo Bisons (known colloquially as the Herd) are a Minor League Baseball team of the International League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays. Located in Buffalo, New York, the team plays their home games at Sahlen Fiel ...

and New Hampshire, posting a 13-6 record and 4.61 ERA in 27 games. Harris split the 2019 season between New Hampshire, Dunedin, and the rookie-level

GCL Blue Jays The Florida Complex League Blue Jays are a Rookie-level affiliate of the Toronto Blue Jays, competing in the Florida Complex League of Minor League Baseball. Prior to 2021, the team was known as the Gulf Coast League Blue Jays. The team plays it ...

, but played in only 6 games due to injury. Harris did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On July 29, 2021, Harris was promoted by the Blue Jays to Triple-A Buffalo, but only played in 2 games for the team. He spent the majority of the 2021 season with Double-A New Hampshire, logging a 2.93 ERA with 34 strikeouts in 28 appearances. He became a free agent following the season on November 7, 2021.

Kansas City Monarchs

On January 18, 2022, Harris signed with the

Kansas City Monarchs The Kansas City Monarchs were the longest-running franchise in the history of baseball's Negro leagues. Operating in Kansas City, Missouri, and owned by J. L. Wilkinson, they were charter members of the Negro National League from 1920 to 193 ...

of the

American Association of Professional Baseball The American Association of Professional Baseball is an independent professional baseball league founded in 2005. It operates in the central United States and Canada, mostly in cities not served by Major League Baseball teams or their minor lea ...

. He made 14 starts for the team, recording a 4-2 record and 4.92 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 75.0 innings of work. Harris was released by the Monarchs following the season on December 22.https://aabaseball.com/transactions/

References

External links

Missouri State Bears bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Jon 1993 births Living people American expatriate baseball players in Canada Baseball pitchers Baseball players from St. Louis Buffalo Bisons (minor league) players Dunedin Blue Jays players Harwich Mariners players Lansing Lugnuts players Missouri State Bears baseball players New Hampshire Fisher Cats players Vancouver Canadians players