Michael Harris II is an elite defender, but Braves are still hoping for offensive resurgence

New York Times

4 days ago

ATLANTA — Braves center fielder Michael Harris II expresses himself with an array of distinctive headbands, color-coordinated neon-bright cleats, batting gloves and arm sleeves, and some of the most spectacular catches we've seen since 10-time Gold Glove winner Andruw Jones manned that same center-field position in Atlanta.
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But what 'Money Mike' would like to add to his featured mix is more hits.
The Braves know he's a much better hitter than he's shown this season, and for much of 2024, because he's hit before at a far better rate than now. And almost every other lineup regular in the majors has hit better than Harris this season.
Even after getting three hits in Thursday's doubleheader split at Philadelphia, including two off lefties, Harris entered Friday's series opener against the Boston Red Sox batting .229 with a .597 OPS, the fourth-lowest among National League qualifiers.
His 66 OPS+ through Thursday was 34 percentage points below a baseline-average MLB player, though his defense remained elite — he was tied for third among MLB center fielders with 6 Outs Above Average before Friday.
Mike brought this one back! 💸@MoneyyyMikeee | #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/XCEc9nCRhv
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 29, 2025
'Michael is still a young player that's figuring some things out,' Braves manager Brian Snitker said. 'I know the one thing he's not doing is taking the offensive (struggles) to center field, because he's making highlight catches every day. I think you're seeing a young player that's still figuring things out, and he's going to get better. The upside is really big with a talented kid, a guy like that. He has strength and speed and can play defense. You know, this hitting is tough.'
What makes it all the more frustrating for Harris, 24, and the Braves is what he's done before: He hit .295 with an .828 OPS during his first two MLB seasons in 2022-2023, with a 124 OPS+ in that span. That included a 133 OPS+ in his rookie season, when Harris was brought up directly from Double A.
The Atlanta-area native hit .297 with 19 home runs and a .514 slugging percentage in 114 games as a 21-year-old that season, when Harris was NL Rookie of the Year ahead of teammate Spencer Strider.
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But it's three years later, and Harris hit .214 with six extra-base hits, including no home runs in his past 26 games before Friday. He ranked among the majors' bottom 20 qualifiers with a .338 slugging percentage. He's one of the more personable and popular players in the clubhouse and among the fan base, so there are a lot of folks hoping Harris can get back on track with his hitting.
He did have 14 RBIs in those 26 games, but his .257 OBP and one run scored (yes, one) over that span were jarring for a player who sprints to catch balls in the gaps and at the wall — or over the wall, as was the case Thursday in Philadelphia, when he leaped to rob Max Kepler of a home run.
Braves third baseman Austin Riley said hitting success in the majors is often about making adjustments. And he can commiserate with Harris, albeit in different circumstances. Riley hit .349 with eight homers and a 1.150 OPS in the first 16 games of his career in 2019. Then pitchers figured out his weakness and started throwing him sliders away.
Riley then hit .190 with a .632 OPS and 85 strikeouts in 211 at-bats over his final 64 games, his struggles exacerbated by a knee injury that sidelined him for a month beginning in early August.
He sees Harris going through it now, an expression players use for slumping.
'I went through it,' Riley said. 'I came out hot, and then they started figuring me out. I think it's just more about just learning that game-inside-the-game, of just the adjustments on a daily basis. What (the pitcher) is trying to do to you, and also a big thing is understanding who's behind the plate, the catcher. Because you can start developing or figuring out tendencies on certain catchers and how they call games.'
Never have there been as many analytics and sophisticated scouting of opposing players as there are now. If a hitter has a weakness, it will be exploited quickly until the hitter fixes the hole in his swing or the flaw in his approach.
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'Everybody knows your cold zones, from a hitting standpoint,' Riley said. 'Everybody knows where your holes are. I think the biggest thing is sticking to your strengths versus (worrying about the pitcher's) strengths and what they're trying to do. Because pitchers are really good, but their ability to throw in that certain location three times a row — it's not likely to happen. So I think just understanding — and I went through it too — you kind of tend to fall into that trap of thinking about what they're trying to do to you versus like, OK, let me get back to what I want to do.'
Braves first-year hitting coach Tim Hyers has watched plenty of video of Harris when he was going well early in his career and also last season when he surged after a two-month IL stint for a serious hamstring strain.
'This league makes you make adjustments,' said Hyers, a former major-league journeyman who has World Series rings as a hitting coach with Texas and Boston. 'They have an army of guys on the other side that are putting game plans together, trying to find ways to get you out. So, yeah, absolutely, it can be harsh at times, and there is a learning curve. But I also think even to veteran guys, I mean, the league makes you make those adjustments.
'Because it's a copycat league. From series to series, the teams take their own data, but they also blend in what you're doing. Are you hitting the high fastball? So they take their strengths and your weaknesses and they blend them. I think that's the art of a young guy learning how to make those adjustments and not get too far away from himself. That's where a lot of young guys make mistakes, is they get away from their foundation. In trying to get in that survive mode, sometimes they lose themselves.'
Which brings us to something that Harris and others, to be fair, have been working to correct.
'I think the high fastball in general — not micro'ing it (to Harris) — but high fastballs for many low-ball hitters,' Hyers said. 'Five or six years ago, everybody started to (throw fastballs up in the strike zone). Because everybody was trying to defend it, and they still made mistakes down. They still threw balls down. But we were trying to survive and everything, and we lost a strength (hitting low strikes).'
Hyers said of Harris: 'He's got to get the ball off the ground. Got to find that swing plane again to redirect the baseball hard. And I think that's what he's trying to work on, and he needs to keep focusing in on it, because they're finding ways to get below his barrel and get a lot of ground balls. So he's trying to find his move, to find that swing plane, to get back to getting the ball (up) — and it's not lazy fly balls, but just redirect it. Be a line-drive machine.'
Thursday was a good start, particularly his two hits off Phillies lefties, a single off starter Cristopher Sánchez and an RBI double against reliever Matt Strahm.
Tie ballgame!@MoneyyyMikeee | #BravesCountry pic.twitter.com/ncmHfLsmsN
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) May 29, 2025
'It can do a lot, especially against a guy like Sánchez, who I haven't had a lot of success against,' Harris said. 'Being able to not just get a hit, but hit it hard, see it well. It was good, that first hit. And then the double, it was good to see a slider and stay on it, and drive in a run.'
'He's got a couple of big hits here lately,' Snitker said. 'It's like everybody else. I mean, we're just kind of waiting for this whole group to get off at the same time, pretty much. It was encouraging to see some individuals (get going), and we're just kind of still waiting to put it together as a team, which allows you to get on a roll a lot of times.'
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Harris said he can feel it coming, that he's getting closer to where he wants to be with his approach and swing.
'Yeah, yeah, for sure,' he said. 'I've been working nonstop on some things to be in the best position to hit, for me. I've been working, and I'm glad I was able to get some results at the plate.'