CINCINNATI – If Braves fans are pleasantly surprised by how good and durable Aaron Harang has been this season, imagine what Reds fans who remember his last few seasons in Cincinnati must be thinking.
The veteran pitcher starts Sunday’s series finale for the Braves in the city where he spent 7 ½ seasons with the Reds through 2010 and matched a franchise record with five consecutive opening-day starts. He won 75 games for the Reds, but in his last three seasons with them he was 18-37 with a 4.79 ERA and 75 homers allowed in 74 starts.
He won just six games each of those three seasons and led the National League with 17 losses in 2008, after posting consecutive 16-win seasons with sub-3.80 ERAs in 2006 and 2007.
Harang, now 36, enters Sunday’s game with a 10-7 record and career-best 3.50 ERA in 26 starts. His 21 quality starts tied teammate Julio Teheran for third-most in the majors entering the weekend, two behind Seattle’s Felix Hernandez and Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto.
“He’s been unbelievable,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “He comes in (at the end of) spring training after we lose two starters, and he comes in and just deals. He knows how to pitch. He knows how to maneuver himself through a major league lineup.”
Harang has spent plenty of time the past few days catching up with old friends around Cincinnati, where he and his wife enjoyed being part of the community in his long tenure with the Reds. He looked forward to pitching Sunday at the ballpark that was in its first year of existence when he was traded from Oakland during the 2003 season.
“It’s always nice to come back,” said Harang, who has pitched for the Padres, Dodgers, Mariners, Mets and Braves in four seasons since leaving Cincinnati. “I still know a lot of people who work here at the stadium. Coming back — I mean, this is where my daughter spent the first four years of her life. So yeah, it means a lot.
“We still have a lot of friends here that we keep in touch with. So it’s always fun to come back and get to see all those people, to come back and enjoy the city.”
Considering how important he’s been to the Braves, it’s almost hard to believe they got him as cheap as they did, off the figurative scrap heap. They signed him in the last week of spring training on March 24, a day after Cleveland released him. Harang had requested the release after the Indians informed him he wouldn’t be on their opening-day roster.
The Braves, who had lost starters Kris Medlen and Brandon Beachy to season-ending elbow injuries two weeks earlier, signed Harang to a one-year, $1 million contract that included additional incentives worth a maximum of $1 million. He reached all of those incentives after making his 25th start.
That’s $2 million for a guy who is tied for the third-most quality starts in the majors, has twice taken no-hitters into the seventh inning, has provided veteran leadership on a young pitching staff, and shows no signs of fading down the stretch: He’s 5-1 with a 3.10 ERA in his past 11 starts, allowing three earned runs or fewer in nine of those games.
“He’s been a godsend,” Gonzalez said. “And he’s been a tremendous clubhouse guy. He competes. His demeanor doesn’t show you that fire that he’s got. He’s such a low-key guy and so happy-go-lucky, but he’s got a fire, and he’s got a competitiveness in him.”
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