Braves Promote Blue-Chip Rookie Michael Harris II Ahead Of Schedule

For Michael Harris II and the Atlanta Braves, the future is now.

The 21-year-old lefty hitter is not only the top Braves prospect but also the most exciting rookie to reach the varsity since fellow outfielder Ronald Acuña, Jr. in 2018.

Advance scouting reports rate him a five-tools player, able to hit for average, produce power, steal bases, supply elite defense, and make strong throws.

The fleet Atlanta native played center field in his first game, against the Miami Marlins May 28, batted ninth, singled, and scored. The team lost, 4-1, but it was not a bad big-league debut – especially against Marlins ace Sandy Alcantara, who fanned 14 men (including Harris in his first at-bat).

At the tender age of 21, Harris vaulted directly from Double-A to the majors, bypassing Drew Waters and Travis DeMerritte on the Atlanta depth chart.

His arrival also suggested that the Braves outfield, perhaps the worst in the majors when the season started with Acuña still recuperating from a surgically-repaired torn ACL, now has the potential to be the best.

The shifting outfield alignment could do something the team once did: vault from worst to first.

Instead of the Opening Day alignment of Marcell Ozuna, Adam Duvall, and Eddie Rosario from left to right the club now features Duvall, Harris, and Acuña. All three are potential candidates for Gold Gloves, which Duvall actually won last summer after arriving from Miami in a mid-season trade.

This year, however, Duvall has struggled to reach the Mendoza Line, producing little power and looking nothing like the player whose 113 runs batted in led the National League last year.

Perhaps the strain of playing center field every day has taken its toll on the 33-year-old veteran, who projects better as a corner outfielder. He hit .191 over his first 175 plate appearances.

The youngest Georgia native to play for the Braves since the team moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta in 1966, Harris has the potential to become the team’s best center-fielder since Andruw Jones won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves at the position from 1998-2007.

When the 99-day lockout ended in March, Atlanta anticipated that Cristian Pache, also a gifted defensive performer, would play the position. But he was one of four blue-chip prospects sent to the Oakland Athletics for veteran first baseman Matt Olson after the team reasoned that free agent Freddie Freeman would not be returning after 12 years with the club.

With Pache gone and Acuña unavailable to plug the sudden hole in center, Duvall returned to the position after playing well there during the 2021 postseason. But Harris was always next in line, according to manager Brian Snitker and general manager Alex Anthopoulos.

“I like having him out there,” Sniker told David O’Brien of The Athletic. “When he’s playing center, Ronnie’s in right, and Duvey’s in left, that’s about as good an outfield as you’re going to get defensively.”

Offensively too – if Harris delivers on his immense promise. He was hitting .305 with two triples, five homers, and 11 stolen bases at Double-A Mississippi after impressing Atlanta brass with two strong performances during major-league spring training.

Last year, managers in his High-A league voted him the best defensive outfielder, according to MLB Pipeline.

“If he can help us win, it’s the right move,” said Anthopoulos, explaining why the Braves promoted Harris without a stop at the Triple-A level. “We’ll find out, one way or the other.”

Harris took the roster spot of Travis DeMerritte, a struggling rookie outfielder who was returned to Triple-A Gwinnett. He’ll earn the major-league minimum of $700,000 – considerably more than the $548,000 signing bonus he received from the Braves after they picked him in the third round of the 2019 amateur draft. Several other teams had scouted the strong-armed Harris as a pitcher.

The Braves needed another left-handed bat after Freeman signed with the Dodgers as a free agent and Eddie Rosario, the Most Valuable Player of the National League Championship Series last year, needed eye surgery after suffering from blurred vision.

When Rosario returns after the All-Star break, he or Ozuna, who has a weak throwing arm, figure to get most of their at-bats as designated hitters.

Much also depends on Harris, who has links to three former Braves icons who also played the outfield: coached by Marquis Grissom and compared to Jason Heyward, he was given the uniform number (23) of David Justice.

A Braves fan since age 3, Harris is the son of a teacher and a postal worker. His dad watched when he signed his first major-league contract before his debut at Truist Park.

“I didn’t think it would be this soon,” Harris said of his promotion. “It’s great being here but I definitely got a chill during the National Anthem.”

He should be around for many more.