Michael Harris II and the Atlanta Braves walked out of Truist Field with a 3-2 extra-inning victory over the Washington Nationals on Friday night. They also pulled a game closer to the Phillies in the NL East race thanks to some Harris heroics.
Michael Harris came into the game with 43 career home runs but none of them led off a game. Hello 44. Harris’s Friday night 410-foot shot off of Washington Nationals starter, MacKenzie Gore, came out of the lead off spot in the first inning. You might think Harris was setting the tone for the game, but Gore went on to pitch six innings with four strikeouts and no walks with Harris’s homer being the only run he allowed.
With not much happening after Harris’s homer, we can fast forward to the 10th inning where the Braves and Nationals are tied at 2. In the top of the inning Bro, CJ Abrams, pinch hit for Nasim Nunez, who had gotten the start at Abrams’s usual spot: shortstop. CJ popped out which is inconsequential except that it put him in the field for the bottom of the 10th after sitting in the dugout for nearly three hours.
Deep in the grass for the first batter, CJ made the play on a ground ball as the ghost runner moved to third. After a line out, there was a man on third with two outs and Michael Harris II coming to bat. As expected, he hit it to CJ Abrams who picked it up cleanly and then threw it wide and low to first as he was compensating for Harris’s speed. Safe at first. Run scored. Braves win.
“I gotta make a better throw in that situation,” Abrams said after the game. “Maybe take a little more time. I think I had more time than I thought.”
There was no RBI on the play for Harris, but maybe he should get one. His speed is what caused Abrams to flub the throw. “In that situation, with two outs, you try to put the ball in play and see what happens,” Harris said.
Michael Harris II bounced back nicely from a recent ten game slump, going 3-3, including an RBI single to center field that drove in Austin Riley, to extend the Braves lead in the 4th inning. He also ran down and snagged a screaming drive to deep center field in the bottom of the seventh inning, preventing a sure extra base hit off the bat of J.D. Martinez to help temporarily hold on to a no-hit bid. The Braves would go on to lose the no-hitter in the ninth inning, but ultimately won the game 4-1.
The Braves center fielder was overdue for a breakthrough game at the plate. Coming into Saturday’s game against The Mets, Harris II was batting a paltry 0.28, with just one hit in his last 36 at-bats. Unsurprisingly, the Braves played mediocre baseball, going (5-5) during this time frame.
Like most quality hitters enduring a prolonged hitting slide, the numbers suggested Mike was pressing a bit, as his chase rate had noticeably increased this season to 44.9%, a career high. Or was it simply just bad luck? Harris has walked just two times during his hitting funk, and has been putting the ball in play, making a lot of solid contact in his plate appearances. His hard hit rate is just slightly down from last season, 48.5% to 46.4%.
Last season, Money Mike, slotted mainly between the middle and lower half of the order, saved his best for the nine hole, where he became the most feared nine hitter in baseball. He hit .293 with 18 bro bombs, and 57 RBIs in 2023.
The ‘24 season started off promising for Harris II, as he was leading the team or near the team lead for hits, triples, home runs, total bases, batting average, slugging percentage and WAR during the first 21 games of the season, in which ATL held a 17-7 record. We at MLBbro believe Money Mike to be the backbone of this Atlanta Braves offense.
The Philadelphia Phillies are the hottest team in baseball right now, leading the league in wins with 28 while sweeping teams left and right courtesy of their solid pitching and impressive, offensive production. When you take a look inside the numbers, it’s not hard to figure out why; they rank top three in almost every major hitting and pitching statistical category.
Yet, in spite of all of that, the Atlanta Braves are sitting just 2.5 games out of first place, continuing to stay dangerous in the NL East, a division they’ve maintained a chokehold on over the past six seasons. If the Braves plan to keep pace with the red hot Phillies, and eventually supplant them atop the division, they’re going to need more performances from Michael Harris II, like the one they got yesterday against the Mets.
Michael Harris II had four hits — all before the 6th inning — and was just a homerun shy of the cycle in Atlanta’s 4-0 shutout over the Giants on Friday.
The deafening yawn that is being heard across the baseball world is coming from the Atlanta Braves and its fan base as they wait for the postseason.
Despite having injury problems with their pitching staff, Atlanta still owns the best record in the Majors (as of August 12) at 72-41 and the Philadelphia Phillies seem to be getting smaller and smaller in their rear view mirror at 9.5 games back.
While sitting in the penthouse of the MLB standings is great, a story to follow for Braves fans leading up to the playoffs is the consistent improvements of reigning NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II and the legendary effects since June.
Michael Harris II Is On Fire
With a .293 batting average along with 19 homers and 78 RBI, this MLBbro was one of the bigger stories of last season, overshadowed only by fellow MLBbro Aaron Judge’s historic home run chase.
After a back strain in spring training was aggravated by crashing into a wall earlier this season, Harris II struggled mightily at the plate.
Through the months of March and April, Harris hovered around the .200 mark.
And then in May, the MLBbro’s batting average bottomed out to .167 while he struck out 24 times. To put this in perspective, Harris struck out 107 times in 114 games last season!
While the social media managers gave their opinions on Harris being sent back to the minors to figure out his rhythm and swing, it Braves manager, Brian Snitker stood by him and the culture that allows the Braves’ young players to grow and thrive within their system.
Now let’s look at Michael Harris II improvements over the last couple of months, shall we?
● June: Our MLBbro batted .372 (Remember his average had bottomed out to .167.) with an on base percentage of .388. Harris also collected five home runs, six doubles and 14 RBI. That strikeout problem? He only had 12 for the month; down from 24 the month before.
● July: A very solid .290 average continuing the consistency that was shown last season.
● August: Through the first eight games of this month, Harris is having his hottest streak of the season. He’s batting .483 (14-29) with a .515 on-base percentage, a slugging percentage of .793 with three doubles, two homers and get this…14 RBI!
Michael Harris II’s upward trend has lifted the Braves offense to historical levels. They lead the Majors in homers and slugging percentage and have the second best batting average and on base percentage.
With him in the ninth slot, the batting order is next to unstoppable. There are no easy outs in the lineup.
According to MLB.com’s Mike Petriello, now that our MLBbro has taken the 9th spot in the order, the Braves’ ninth spot has an OPS of .812 which is better than 20 of baseball’s 29 lead-off hitters. In other words, the 9th slot, manned mostly by Harris, is out-producing 2/3rds of the lead-off hitters in the league. Astonishing.
Harris II discussed the lineup and the effect it’s having on other pitching staffs to Bally Sports…
“I feel like it’s pretty frustrating for the other pitchers,” Harris said. “They get through who they think is going to do all the damage and they get down to the bottom of the lineup and we can still do a little damage. It’s a pretty special lineup.”
A pretty special lineup thanks to the team’s confidence in an MLBbro to find his way out of a slump.
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