Brewers' Kyle Harrison Gamble Looks Smarter With Every Start

The Milwaukee Brewers look better and better each time Kyle Harrison comes out and pitches.

May 20, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison (52) throws the ball against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | David Banks-Imagn Images

The Milwaukee Brewers have gotten plenty of quality outings from Kyle Harrison so far this season.

Despite no rumors indicating a deal on the way, the Brewers traded Caleb Durbin to the Boston Red Sox this past offseason in a deal centered around 24-year-old starter Kyle Harrison. Milwaukee clearly got the best of the deal. On Wednesday, Harrison made his ninth start of the season. He entered the day with a 2.09 ERA in 38 2/3 innings pitched to go along with a 48-to-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Those are very good numbers. While this is the case, he went out and had his best outing of the season on Wednesday night against the National League Central rival Chicago Cubs. Harrison's season-high in innings pitched this season entering Wednesday's contest was six innings. The young lefty topped that by pitching seven shutout innings against one of the best teams in the league on paper. On top of this, Harrison allowed just two base hits while striking out 11 batters. He walked just one batter on the day as well.

Kyle Harrison Was Phenomenal On Wednesday

May 14, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers starting pitcher Kyle Harrison (52) throws a pitch against the San Diego Padres in the first inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images | Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Kyle Harrison's 11th K pic.twitter.com/yCUXPxVMz5

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 21, 2026

That doesn't tell the whole story, though. Harrison was absolutely dominant. He retired a career-best 15 straight batters at one point. Harrison came into the contest looking great for Milwaukee and lowered his season ERA down to 1.77. That's actually lower than Jacob Misiorowski, who has a 1.89 ERA so far this season.

Harrison's start on Wednesday was ridiculous. A rotation with him pitching at this level at 24 years old and Misiorowski on the run that he's on can go a long way this season. If you enter the playoffs with these two at the top of the rotation and Brandon Woodruff eventually in the No. 3 spot, that's enough to make a run, regardless of the offense. That's not to say the offense will be bad. It should be very good with Jackson Chourio, Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich healthy. But it's more of an indication of just how good this rotation can be.

Milwaukee got a steal from Boston. The Red Sox are floundering and trying to find ways to bolster their offense. This has left Durbin on the outside looking in over the last few days. The deal hasn't worked out for Boston, but the Brewers can't complain. They got an All-Star-level hurler under team control for years to come. Talk about a good deal.