Kernels' Harrison undeterred by who's ahead of him

CEDAR RAPIDS - If a minor leaguer tells you he doesn't pay attention to what other players at his position are doing in his organization, don't believe him.

Props to Travis Harrison for being honest about it.  The Cedar Rapids Kernels third baseman is a legit guy for the Minnesota Twins who appears to be blocked right now.

Miguel Sano has 22 home runs in a season split between high-Class A and Double-A and is widely considered one of the top 10 prospects in the game. Harrison - whose Kernels beat Wisconsin before a sold-out crowd of 5,631 at Veterans Memorial Stadium, 3-1 - acknowledges that but isn't fazed in the least.

"You know how everyone is doing," Harrison said. "Today, with Twitter and all that, you can't hide from it. Sano's a great player. I played with him in spring training and all that kind of stuff. But I feel confident that I can keep playing third and play third base in the big leagues for the Twins for a long time."

That's the kind of attitude you love to see. Harrison, a first-round compensation pick in 2011, lost "15 to 17" pounds in the offseason and improved his agility in order to remain a third baseman.

He still has a ways to go, but the defensive improvement from the beginning of the season is noticeable.

"We're working on some things," said Kernels Manager Jake Mauer. "(Things like) first-step quickness. I think that'll come. He's moving around like a third baseman now. He wasn't in the spring. I think he's started to get the look, the confidence. And it's to his credit because he's worked his ass off. He takes groundballs early every day."

"Losing weight in the offseason wasn't necessarily the goal," said Harrison, a 20-year-old Californian. "The goal was to get quicker left to right, front to back. I knew that would help me at third base because a lot of defense is with your feet. It has paid off. I feel a lot more confident out there. Last year, I was kind of tentative. I'm going to keep going 100 percent, keep being aggressive. If I make a couple of errors by being aggressive, then I have no problem with that."

Harrison's bat definitely "plays." He went 2 for 4 Thursday night and is hitting .277 with 24 doubles and a team-high 14 home runs.

"I don't really think about what they're going to do with me," Harrison said. "I want to stick at third base. I'm going to do everything I can to be there because I know I can.  I know I can play third base in the big leagues, and well. That's the goal."

Out of mind, out of sight, out of Beloit best describes this one. The Kernels (52-30) improved to 12-2 in the Midwest League's second half via Adam Brett Walker's two-run homer in the second, D.J. Hicks' solo shot in the eighth and strong pitching.

Josue Montanez continues to be stretched out, going 5 2/3 innings in his third and longest start. He was highly efficient, throwing just 53 pitches through five before tiring in the sixth and leaving with the bases loaded.

Alex Muren and Tyler Jones finished up, with Jones throwing the eighth and ninth for his sixth save. The teams play again Friday night at 6:35.

Here is the game boxscore: