Former Mets draft pick Alonzo Harris dominated the Mexican League

Former 39th round draft pick by the New York Mets, Alonzo Harris, found a home in 2019 crushing baseballs in the Mexican League.

The name Alonzo Harris probably doesn’t mean much to you even if you are a diehard New York Mets fan. Drafted in the 39th round back in 2007, Harris never made it above Double-A while with the Mets. He had some ups and downs on the farm, hitting well some years and not others.

A must-follow, baseball savant Ryan Spaeder turned me onto Harris’ existence with a tweet back in November. Covering his 2019 performance in the Mexican League, I was able to learn a little more about what Harris has been up to.

Long after debuting for the Gulf Coast Mets back in 2008, Harris found a home with the Guerreros de Oaxaca in 2019 where he played in 119 games. His experience in several Independent and International Leagues paid off.

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Harris, playing in his age 30 season back in 2019, smacked 39 home runs and drove in 117 for Oaxaca. He added in a .343/.431/.691 batting line and an astonishing 45 stolen bases. As Spaeder put it, does it really matter what league this was in? Harris was playing against the competition best suited for him. All he did was go on to have a year with some stacked numbers.

This isn’t the first time Harris put up some terrific power and stolen base numbers while hitting above .300. A little closer to Mets Land, he excelled with the York Revolution of the Atlanta League back in 2017.

That year, Harris hit 23 home runs, drove in 73, and stole 31 bases. He slashed .315/.381/.530 in what was the kind of season you rarely find from a player anywhere in the world.

The mix of power and speed Harris possesses is eye-popping. It’s a little strange he hasn’t gotten another shot at playing under contract with a Major League Baseball franchise even at the minor league level.

Harris’ last stint with an MLB affiliate was in 2014 when he played at High-A for the Miami Marlins. In 38 plate appearances, Harris hit .094.

One year earlier, while with the Binghamton Mets, he had his first run-in with a roadblock. His lone season at Double-A resulted in a .218 batting average in just under 400 plate appearances. He hit only four home runs while swiping 24 bags.

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Harris is surely one of many athletes out there hoping to one day achieve the ultimate dream and see action on a major league roster. Even if the dream fades a little more each year, it’s nice to see him—and anyone else for that matter—find a place where they can fit in and become one of the best.