"But he was just starting to hit! Why now?! This is the worst possible time something of this magnitude could happen to him?"
Two days ago on July 21, the Milwaukee Brewers' number three prospect Monte Harrison broke his ankle in a gruesome incident during the first inning of the Helena Brewers' contest against the Orem Owlz.
Harrison, who was taken with the fiftieth overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft from Lee's Summit West High School in Missouri, started his Tuesday evening by walking after lead-off man Troy Stokes grounded out. Later, he stole second base (14th stolen base of season) to put himself into scoring position for Steven Karkenny. What happened next though, would be one of the nastiest events to have ever transpired at Kindrick Legion Field in Helena, Montana.
Karkenny lined a ball to right field causing Harrison to start around third as he was being waived home. Then all of a sudden the former Missouri high school star slipped on the wet grass, but instead of hopping back up, he rolled around on the ground in great pain. In fact, some in attendance report that while he was on the turf Harrison's foot was pointing in the wrong direction!
After sustaining the injury, the 2014 second round pick was tagged out, carried from the field on a stretcher, and taken to the hospital for treatment of what was later diagnosed as a broken ankle.
Despite the frustration of getting hurt, especially at a time that everything was starting to come together (.379 batting average, 1 home run, and 7 stolen bases in last nine games prior), Harrison was in good spirits afterwards and tweeted "Broken ankle....but can't be sad now, all u gotta do is just smiling and get back to work ! #TheComeBack #Selfies lol" with a picture of him in a hospital bed surrounded by three individuals.
The nineteen year old was batting .299 with 3 home runs, 13 RBIs, and 14 stolen bases for Helena (Rookie) after struggling greatly against Midwest League (Single-A) pitching for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (.148 average, 2 home runs, 12 RBIs, and 6 stolen bases).