Padre Pitcher Harris Starts Over as Starter

In his 27 years, Greg Harris has been a short reliever. He has been a long reliever. He has started.

The thinking-man’s pitcher, he has thought like a reliever. He has thought like a starter. He has switched roles more often than the Padres have changed uniforms.

And there he was Monday afternoon, arm wrapped tightly in ice, feeling good about his latest job.

He started and threw five shutout innings Monday during the Padres’ 13-inning, 2-1 victory over Seattle, an outing he called his “smartest” of the spring.

“Things felt a lot better today,” Harris said. “I’m starting to get into a starter mode, relaxing when the game begins. I’m not so gung-ho; I’m a little more deliberate.

“I don’t think I had my best stuff today,” he said.

His smartest outing?

“I’d say it was because I made more quality pitches. I made quicker adjustments this time than before.”

Said Manager Greg Riddoch: “Harry did a great job. I’ll tell you one thing I saw today--in the first inning, he came out like he didn’t come out of the bullpen.”

Harris was a starter during his three-plus seasons in the Padre farm system (1985-1988), but since arriving in San Diego, he has spent much of the past two seasons coming out of the Padre bullpen. But after the Padres lost starter Eric Show and acquired reliever Larry Anderson over the winter, they asked him to become a starter again.

Not that the Padres--or Harris--were concerned, but he entered Monday’s game with an 8.68 earned-run average. In 9 1/3 innings this spring, he had allowed nine runs on 10 hits. In his first exhibition start, March 11 against California, he allowed six runs and four hits in just 1 1/3 innings. Monday, he harnessed Seattle on four hits in five innings.

He made some bad pitches, he said. Got some balls up. But mentally, he explained, he remained in control. And that, he thinks, will be much more important than anything else two weeks from now when he takes the mound and the games mean something.

As a reliever, you come out with your best pitch, because you usually need an immediate out. As a starter, you pace yourself.

“I’m intense,” Harris said. “I’ll go as hard as I can for as long as I can. But I’ll face a batter three or four times a game rather than once (as a reliever). So maybe in a key situation, I don’t want to show my key pitch in a batter’s first at-bat. The sequence of my pitches may change.”

You might say that now, Harris looks at the big picture--the entire lineup. As a right-handed reliever, Harris was brought in during the past two seasons mainly to face right-handed hitters.

“The transition I had trouble with most was, when I’d warm up at a quarter-to (one, when most Padre exhibition games start), I’d be ready in five minutes,” Harris said. “My biggest transition was when I went to the mound, to make sure I didn’t leave it all in the bullpen.”

As for his less-than-perfect spring, Harris isn’t bothered a bit. For the first time in three years, he skipped winter ball. He felt burned out by last August, he said, and decided to forgo Puerto Rico. So instead, he got an internship at San Diego National Bank, where he learned about the accounting department, loan department, bank development, and so forth. He earned his degree in business finance from Elon (N.C.) College in 1987, and he wanted to see the practical side of it.

And, it afforded him a chance to rest. Now, as he progresses through the spring, he is feeling better.

“After my first outing, I thought, ‘I’m a major-league ways away’, both physically and mentally,” Harris said. “It’s not such a strange thing anymore.”

The group battling for the fifth starting spot in the Padre pitching rotation was reduced by one late Monday when the Padres waived Mike Dunne. That leaves Calvin Schiraldi and Derek Lilliquist as the leading candidates for the fifth slot, followed by Dennis Rasmussen and Atlee Hammaker, both of whom are injured.

The Padres drafted Dunne from Seattle Dec. 4, 1989, but Dunne never materialized the way the Padres hoped. He started last season on the disabled list with arm problems and then fractured a leg July 17.

Also Monday, the Padres optioned third baseman Scott Coolbaugh to triple-A Las Vegas.

Padre Notes

The Padre flu list continues to grow. Shortstop Tony Fernandez and pitcher Jeremy Hernandez came down with it Monday, joining outfielders Darrin Jackson and Shawn Abner and pitcher Bruce Hurst. Manager Greg Riddoch also has been fighting the flu, and pitcher Craig Lefferts still has bronchitis. Riddoch managed Monday against Seattle, but none of the stricken players played. . . . Riddoch and his coaches met early Monday morning to discuss the roster, and Riddoch said the club will likely make another cut within the next couple of days. Riddoch said the Padres may break camp in Yuma with 29 or 30 players--the opening-day limit is 25--and take the extra players to Palm Springs and then Las Vegas, where the team finishes the exhibition season April 5-7. The final cut would be made in Las Vegas, and those players would remain behind with the triple-A Stars. . . . Ah, the glamour of professional baseball: Pitcher Andy Benes was standing in front of a television camera Monday ready to film a spot promoting Padre telecasts. “Do I have to say my name?” Benes asked. “I don’t want to. I don’t want anyone to know who I am.” . . . Tonight’s Padres-San Francisco Giants game is on ESPN beginning at 5:05 p.m. PST . . . Seattle’s Brian Holman pitched six shutout innings Monday against the Padres, extending his spring scoreless-innings streak to 30 consecutive over the past two springs.