Baseball is a rare sport where failure is more common than success. Therefore, it comes with more lows than highs, but when you put it into perspective, the thrill of those highs will easily outweigh the lows.
Atlanta Braves top prospects Michael Harris II, the organization’s 2019 third-round selection out of Stockbridge High School in Georgia, was drafted as a player of value, but has turned himself into the Braves top prospect.
Harris now in Double-AA, killed it in 31 games at the rookie-level, with a .349/.403/.514/.917 slash line. Right out the gate with the Mississippi Braves, Harris II has shown a knack for getting on base. Boasting a recent 30-game on base streak is a sign of that ability to consistently reach the squares. He credits that amazing feat to having a daily routine, which he considers essential.
Middle-middle to Michael?!?! C’mon now, you know better than that.@MoneyyyMikeee sends one to another area code to tie this one up!
In an interview earlier this month, Harris II had this to say ….
“I think it’s about finding a good routine and following it every day. One that works for you, and not copying someone else. Then following it every day and feeling good about it.”
Harris Has Been Very Successful In His Move Up To Double-AA
Harris II has been great at the plate, batting a sizzling .304 with a .353 on-base percentage. He’s even shown a nice bit of power, hitting four long balls in that stretch.
Harris was sensational in Single-A Rome, and his call-up to Double-A allowed him to be around Braves stars Ozzie Albies and Danby Swanson in March. He called it an unreal experience.
“It was huge,” Harris said of running elbows with guys who have made it to where he’s trying to go. “Growing up watching the Braves and being around the players I watched as a kid, it gave me a lot of motivation. It opened my eyes to what my future could really be.”
ICYMI: @MoneyyyMikeee drives in two runs with a sixth-inning single. The R-Braves dropped the first game of tonight’s doubleheader by the slimmest of margins but will look for a win in the night cap, starting soon! pic.twitter.com/iz7CZspN0x
Harris II Is Braves Future Outfielder: Has All The Tools
The plan is for Harris II to join the defending World Series champion Braves sometime in 2023. There he’ll he teamed with the Albies, Swanson and star player Ronald Acuna Jr. Harris’ knack for getting on-base will fit seamlessly with the aggressive playing style of the Braves’ Big Three and would give the Braves even more speed and punch on the base pads.
The Braves, brass has envisioned a Harris, Acuna, Albies outfield for years to come. Harris just wants to keep getting better and showing he belongs.
“Now that the streak’s number is so high, it’s just more motivation to get on base. But I’m just trying to do what I can do to help the team win, whether that’s hitting, walking or baserunning. I’m just trying to do that everyday.”
Brian Snitker, the former Mississippi Braves manager and current manager of the Atlanta Braves has big plans for his prized prospect.
He told reporters this in April.
“I’m all over Michael Harris. I love that kid. It’s hard not to. He just needs more experience.”
Taylor Hearn earned his first victory of the season after defeating the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves.
Sunday afternoon was the best start we’ve seen from Hearn over his short two-year Major League career and he did it in front of the biggest crowd in Globe Life Field history.
Hearn found success attacking an all-world Braves’ lineup early and often while getting himself out of a few different self-imposed jams as Texas held on to win, 7-3.
Taylor Hearn's sister asked him a question during the postgame interview.
Coming into Sunday, the Rangers had lost five consecutive home games started by Hearn.
He had an 0-4 record with an 8.02 ERA allowing 19 earned runs in 21.1 innings over that span but finally got that elusive win.
Hearn started off the game by striking out four batters in the first two innings, including All-Stars Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson.
A second inning RBI groundout by Marcus Semien gave Hearn his first lead of the game, and he never let it go.
Trouble came to his doorstep for the first time during the third inning where the Braves began with runners on second and third base with no one out.
After again striking Acuna out, Hearn would give up his only two runs of the game but did a nice job not letting the inning get out of hand.
A misplayed ball with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third inning broke the game open for Texas, finally giving Hearn the run support and cushion he had yet to receive this season, let alone his entire time with the Rangers.
After a clean top of the fourth inning, Hearn started the fifth inning with runners on first and second with no one out.
Atlanta was on the ropes and looking at what was its only chance to get back into the game, but Hearn denied the Braves efforts by rolling up a double play ball and closing his outing with his sixth strikeout of the game to tie a season high.
Hearn tied a season-high, going five innings giving up four hits, two runs, three walks and struck out six batters to earn his first win since September 12, 2021.
This was a nice bounce back game for Hearn, who suffered his second loss of the season earlier in the week in a game against the Houston Astros. Hearn threw a then-season-high five innings and 84 pitches.
His first three innings were solid as he only allowed one run on two hits before running into trouble during a 24-pitch fourth inning where he gave up his first home run in 20.2 consecutive innings at home.
Hearn’s record now stands at 1-2 this season with an 6.53 ERA and 24 strikeouts. His next start will most likely be Sunday afternoon when the Rangers travel to New York to take on the Yankees.
Injuries are an extremely unfortunate part of the game. But for MLBbro Travis Demeritte, injuries can lead to opportunity.
Originally, Demeritte was called up to fill the roster spot left vacant by Austin Riley – away on paternity leave after the birth of his baby boy. But after NLCS MVP Eddie Rosario was placed on the 10-day list with blurred vision and swelling in his right eye, Travis found himself in the starting lineup, Tuesday against the Chicago Cubs.
“It’s been a long road, but I feel great,” Demeritte said. “To be able to put this uniform on and play in front of family and friends in a state I grew up in, it’s almost scripted. It felt almost too good to be true.”
Long road may be an understatement. The 27-year-old Georgia native has been included in multiple transactions since he was taken 30th overall in the 2013 MLB Draft by the Texas Rangers. Travis has always shown potential as a power hitter, but high strikeout rates have kept him in the minors the majority of his career.
This is Demeritte’s second stint with the Braves, who originally acquired him from the Rangers in 2016. Despite high power numbers and a conversion from second base to outfield, Travis was traded to the Tigers in 2019.
He hit .198 with three homers and a .554 OPS in 66 games in the bigs before being released.
Now back in Atlanta, Travis didn’t wait long to make the most of his opportunity. With two outs in the top of the fourth, Demeritte sprinted toward the right field foul line, sliding to make a spectacular catch in foul territory. Demeritte wasn’t done, stepping into the box in the bottom of the fifth inning against fellow MLBbro Marcus Stroman, looking to make another statement.
Stroman tried to sneak past a first-pitch fastball over the plate. Demeritte was all over it, sending the pitch screaming over the bricks above Truist Park’s right field wall for his first home run of the season. In seven at-bats, Travis has three hits, two runs, one homer and boasts a .429 BA and OBP.
Rosario is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks, so while the return of superstar Ronald Acuna Jr. is looming, Demeritte has gone from short-term rental to long-term placeholder. Braves Manager Brian Snitker made it clear that Travis will be given every opportunity to earn time in the Braves outfield.
“When somebody goes down like that, it gives somebody else a chance to do something really good,” Snitker said after Tuesday’s 3-1 victory. “Hopefully, this is Travis’ time.”
His numbers at the plate may regress, but if Travis can continue to make a positive impact defensively, you can easily see him creating a role for himself in the Braves outfield.
Atlanta — Before the Atlanta Braves Championship parade made its way up I-75 to Truist Park in Cobb County, the team made sure to return to their roots.
The Braves championship parade began in the heart of Downtown Atlanta, with thousands of fans lining the street to celebrate the Braves first World Series championship since 1995.
The Champions, in a motorcade that included F150’s, trolly cars and the classic double decker buses, headed down historic Peachtree street to celebrate with the city.
The only thing that could have made the day better was seeing the Commissioner’s Trophy drive down Hank Aaron Boulevard.
The parade never made it down to the Summerhill neighborhood on Atlanta’s Southeast side, and for many Black Braves fans this remains a tough subject.
“Its complicated,” said Braves fan Philip Butler when I asked him about the Braves Championship. “I’m from Atlanta and I love this city, but we know what the move to Cobb was about and I don’t necessarily rock with that. But I will always root for Atlanta, it’s that simple.”
But if for only one day, it wasn’t about where the Braves call home or the 14 mile distance between old Turner Field and their new stomping grounds.
“26 years of heartbreak, and we finally made it,” said Jarrett King, a 32 year old lifelong Braves fan. “We’ve have blown leads with the Braves, Chipper only got one ring, we already know about the Falcons… but this one was for OG Atlanta. We finally got one. I have never seen a parade in Atlanta for something that mattered until today.”
The city came out to celebrate the team that, at least for this year, put to rest years of post season heartbreak to finally deliver a championship.
There will always be the “28 to 3” jokes, referencing the Falcons Super Bowl collapse, but the Braves clinching this title In Houston felt like a gift from the Sports gods.
Even after winning a championship and announcing their victory celebration, there was still speculation that two different parades was a sign that the Braves abandoned the city for their shiny new digs up north.
When I asked Braves fan Brian King about this sentiment, he gave a different perspective.
“They still have Atlanta across their chest. They may be in a different county, but they are technically still in Atlanta. The fact that the parade came through Atlanta and not just Cobb County shows you that they still have love for Atlanta.”
