Rockies Claim Hayden Harris

The Rockies announced that they have claimed left-hander Hayden Harris off waivers from the Braves. Atlanta designated him for assignment earlier this week. Colorado had an open 40-man roster spot and is assigning Harris to Triple-A Albuquerque, so no corresponding moves are needed.

Harris, 27, is a side-arming lefty with a very limited big league track record thus far. He made his debut with three appearances for Atlanta last year, allowing one earned run in 2 2/3 innings. He has been in the minors for all of 2026, so that’s still the totality of his major league résumé.

Colorado is presumably looking at Harris’s minor league work, where he has always racked up strikeouts and given out free passes. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has thrown 207 1/3 innings on the farm with a 3.65 earned run average. He has struck out a massive 35.1% of opponents but also walked them at a high clip of 12.6%.

Last year, Harris seemed to have a breakout. His 9.7% walk rate in the minors was still a bit on the high side but a big improvement for him. He was still striking guys out at a huge rate, finishing the year at 40.3%. That got him his aforementioned brief look in the show. But things have backed up this year. His 28.7% strikeout rate is still good but a drop from his previous work. His 16.6% walk rate is really bad, even relative to his prior track record.

His tough year got him bumped off the Atlanta roster but it makes sense for Colorado to take a shot. They had an open roster spot anyway and they need arms. The big league team has a collective 5.42 ERA this year, worse than every team except for the Athletics. Harris can be optioned for two more seasons after this one, so the Rockies can keep him stashed in the minors and see if he can get his control back in check.