Milwaukee Brewers general manager Matt Arnold has begun to earn a reputation as a shrewd negotiator around the league. Now in his fifth year in charge of constructing Milwaukee’s roster, Arnold has pulled off some advantageous trades and pickups.
None may prove to be bigger than the February deal he made to get Kyle Harrison from the Boston Red Sox.
The Brewers received Harrison, fellow lefty pitcher Shane Drohan, and speedy infielder David Hamilton from the Red Sox. In return, Milwaukee sent Caleb Durbin (currently hitting .186), part-time infielder Andruw Monasterio (.239), and Anthony Siegler (playing at the Triple-A level).
One peek into the numbers of each of the trade participants now with the Brewers will reveal that Arnold fleeced Boston in the swap. Harrison’s performance during the first one-third of the season makes that opinion a no-brainer.
Harrison’s start to the 2026 season has generated buzz from around baseball about a legitimate run to the National League Cy Young Award. He is currently eighth on the list of favorites to win the covented best pitcher prize.
All told, Harrison is 7-1 with a 1.57 ERA in 11 starts thus far, and his 73 strikeouts are good for 11.5 whiffs per nine innings.
On April 26 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Harrison began a streak of seven starts that culminated in Tuesday night’s gem against the San Francisco Giants. Here is a breakdown of Harrison’s numbers during that span:
During the last six weeks, Harrison threw 39.2 innings, gave up four earned runs, struck out 55 hitters, and walked just nine. Those numbers add up to a 0.91 ERA and a 0.83 WHIP.
One of the secrets to Harrison’s success has been the tweaks made under the watchful eye of pitching coach Chris Hook. Once he arrived at spring training in February, Harrison received important feedback to get his body in the right spot, most notably where he started on the mound.
“To make that change first and feel the difference in swings and approach was just much better for him,” Hook said. “There’s some adjustment period there, and we’re now starting to see him come out of it and have an understanding of how his stuff works from that side of the rubber.”
The 8-3 win over the Giants was Harrison’s latest masterpiece, and it was one that he took great pride in performing.
He was originally drafted by San Francisco, his hometown team growing up in Concord, CA, in 2020. Last June, Harrison was traded with three other players to the Red Sox for Rafael Devers, whom he struck out three times. Needless to say, the 24-year-old southpaw wanted to show his old team what they were missing.
After the game, Harrison downplayed the connection to his former club and chose to look ahead to bigger and better goals down the road.
“It’s always going to feel personal, right?” he said. “I grew up 40 minutes from that ballpark and had a great time there. I cherish my memories with them. It feels good, but I have to do it in another five days, so you can’t get caught up in that.”
Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy certainly knows the quality of gem Arnold unearthed for him, and he knows the best is yet to come for Harrison.
“At first I thought to myself, ‘Why has the guy been traded twice?’” Murphy said. “That’s your first thought. When a young player has been traded twice, there’s something. Obviously, he was establishing offspeed consistently. And if you’ve been traded twice, confidence might be an issue.
“I think he’s cleared up both. It’s a long journey, and he’s just starting out. There’s one out in the inning, so to speak, and we’ve got two more outs. Let’s use them wisely. The kid’s been great.”
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If Harrison had recorded two more outs this season, his ERA would qualify as the second-best in the National League. For now, he will have to bide his time before he joins that list, knowing he is one of the most important pieces of the Brewers’ puzzle.
Based on Arnold’s masterful stroke in acquiring Harrison, here’s a tip to the other 29 general managers: If Arnold is calling, don’t take it. Odds are, he will have a deal in mind that will not make your team better.
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