PHILADELPHIA _ Josh Harrison's season ended Saturday night with the Pirates second baseman crawling the final few yards of a two-run double. He lay in the dirt, grimacing, and smacked the bag with his hand. Harrison will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a right groin strain.
"No words to really say," he said Monday. "I'm OK. It could've been worse. I left it all out there. There's still a chance if we make a run, you may see me back out there if we somehow find our way."
The frustration, Harrison said, is that something special must happen for him to play baseball again this season. The Pirates would have to pull free from the September sinkhole and climb back into contention. Harrison could conceivably rejoin the team in the National League division series.
Harrison knows it's a long shot. So if the season is over, he said, at least it ended on a good note.
In his first season since inheriting the second-base job from Neil Walker, Harrison batted .283 with a .311 on-base percentage, plus 19 steals in 23 tries. The way he finished was even better. Harrison ended on a 10-game hitting streak. Over his last two weeks of games, Harrison hit .383 with as many three-hit games (two) as no-hit games (two).
In a stretch of 35 starts from June 10 to July 29, Harrison stumbled to a .169/.161/.287 batting line, his season batting average plummeting from .327 to .264. In 35 starts since July 29, however, Harrison jumped back into the leadoff spot and rebounded with a .333 average.
"It did allow me to feel something," Harrison said. "Certain things I felt at the plate are things I've jogged in my memory to continue that feeling, what was working for me and what I was noticing with my body. You can take positives out of anything. It could always be worse.
"Yeah, it sucks to not finish the way I wanted to, but I can pull some things from how I was feeling right before it happened and take it from there."
Harrison will remain with the Pirates for the remainder of the regular season as he begins rehab.
Manager Clint Hurdle said he expects Sean Rodriguez to pick up most starts at second base now, with Adam Frazier and Alen Hanson as his backups. Rodriguez, a soon-to-be free agent with a career-high .806 OPS this season, started at second Monday against the Philadelphia Phillies.
"Josh was playing some good baseball," Hurdle said. "He was really contributing offensively at the top of the lineup, gave us a shot in the arm. ... He understands he hurt it playing the game he loves. He hurt it after driving in two more runs and trying to find a way to get to second base.
"It's just part of the game. You don't have to like it, but you do have to find a way to deal with it."
