Brewers' Kyle Harrison Has Make-or-Break Test Coming vs. Pirates

The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to Kyle Harrison on Thursday for his most important start of the season.

Sep 6, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison (52) throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to lefty Kyle Harrison on Thursday in what will be his biggest test of the 2026 Major League Baseball season so far.

Harrison has been struggling recently, that much has been clear. The lefty has a 20.86 ERA across his last three outings. That's obviously not what you want to see. He tossed 3 2/3 innings on Aug. 31 and allowed nine earned runs and five homers against the Chicago Cubs. On Sep. 6, he followed up by tossing 3 2/3 innings against the Cincinnati Reds and allowed four earned runs and walked four batters. On Sep. 12, the Brewers tried something different and brought him in out of the bullpen and he failed to record an out.

Harrison allowed four runs on four hits without an out against the Reds. Now, he's getting another shot in the rotation. MLB.com's Adam McCalvy reported that the Brewers' probable starters have been shaken up to include Harrison on Thursday in the series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Dustin May moving to Friday against the Baltimore Orioles.

"A tweak to the Brewers’ pitching plans: LHP Kyle Harrison will now start Thursday’s series finale in Pittsburgh," McCalvy wrote. "Then it will be Dustin May, Robert Gasser, and TBA in Baltimore over the weekend."

The Brewers Are Giving Kyle Harrison Another Chance

Aug 31, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Kyle Harrison (52) throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Initially, May was slated to start on Thursday against Pittsburgh.

When the Brewers' probable starters were released for the Pirates series, they looked like the beginning of a playoff series. Jacob Misiorowski took the hill on Tuesday, Logan Henderson will pitch on Wednesday and May was scheduled for the finale. Harrison would've been in that No. 2 spot for the vast majority of the season until his recent struggles came on. Now, Henderson looks like the No. 2 option. If Harrison can get back to the guy he was earlier in the season, he would be that No. 3 option ahead of May in a playoff series.

His start on Thursday will be the biggest of the season for him so far. If he can get the velocity back up and look like himself, maybe he can get that spot back. His last three outings were bad. There's no sugar-coating that. But this is also a guy who had a 2.79 ERA on the season in 21 appearances before that. Arguably, it's the right call to give him another shot in the rotation to see if these last three outings were just a fluke. If they can get him back to the level he was pitching at, this rotation arguably will be unstoppable.