NY Mets trade retrospective: Bill Pulsipher round 2 for Lenny Harris part deux

Stop me when you’ve heard this description before—he’s the next great New York Mets pitcher! A belief for many to come through Queens over the years, it’s what fans were told to believe in the mid-1990s with Bill Pulsipher. One of three members of Generation K, Pulsipher was never able to come close to matching expectations. 

On June 2, 2000, his second tour with the Mets ended when he was swapped for Lenny Harris who was coming back to New York for the second time in his career.

Looking back at the Mets-Diamondbacks trade that swapped Bill Pulsipher for Lenny Harris

Injuries plagued Pulsipher in his career. After his 126.2 inning performance as a rookie in 1995, he never got above 100 again. The Mets would trade him in the middle of the 1998 season to the Milwaukee Brewers for Mike Kinkade. After suffering from many of the same misfortunes like injury and poor performance out in Wisconsin, he’d end up back with the Mets in January of 2000. Half a year later, round two would end.

Pulsipher is an easy to forget member of the 2000 pennant winning Mets mostly because all he did was make two starts. A 12.15 ERA in limited action made it easy to part with him. He’d actually never pitch an inning for the Diamondbacks who, in return for Pulsipher, handed the Mets one of the greatest pinch hitters of all-time, Harris.

Harris was someone the Mets had employed in the past. A journeyman hitter in the late 1990s and early 2000s, he found his way to the Mets in 1998 as a midseason trade piece. He hit an underwhelming .232/.272/.381. He became a free agent at the end of the year and would end up back with the Mets in a season with a better conclusion.

Round two was much better. Harrison batted .304/.381/.457 in 157 plate appearances for the 2000 Mets. He wasn’t very good the following year, seeing his slash line fall to .222/.266/.274. Harris had multiple seasons like this in the latter part of his career. He was either batting close to the Mendoza Line or above .300. Luckily, the Mets got one of those over .300 seasons when they needed his pinch hitting services most. 

Perhaps most surprising were the 8 stolen bases he had. Despite being with the team only half the year, he was tied for the most stolen bases alongside Derek Bell.

It was a successful trade in every way for the Mets. Sadly, Pulsipher would never make another start in the majors after leaving the Mets. Relegated to bullpen duties thereafter, Pulsipher struggled with a 6.00 ERA in 2001 in 30 innings. He wouldn’t get back to the show until 2005 with the St. Louis Cardinals where in 4 innings he gave up 3 earned runs.