Braves Michael Harris II's Late Surge Earns Him New Milestones

Michael Harris II’s push to reinvent himself since the All-Star Break has netted him two career firsts. With a solo shot in the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Atlanta Braves center fielder notched his 20th home run of the season for the first time. 

In turn, he has his first career 20/20 season (20 home runs and 20 stolen bases). According to the Braves, he is the 12th player in franchise history to achieve that type of season, joining the ranks of Hank Aaron, Dale Murphy, Chipper Jones and Andruw Jones. 

He joins his teammates Ronald Acuña Jr. and Ozzie Albies in the Braves' 20/20 club as well.

With the ebbs and flows he’s had this season, his ability to make adjustments, most notably with his stance, and turn things around can be embodied by these new career marks. 

“You know, if you weren’t here living it and seeing everything that he’s been though and how he had to battle through some things, you’d think, ‘wow, this’ - I was just looking at outfielders in general in the National League, and he’s going to put together, other than Juan Soto, who’s had an unbelievable year, he’s right there with everybody and better than most,” manager Brian Snitker said after the game.  

Harris has certainly looked more like the high-caliber ballplayer he is supposed to be, for the most part, since the season resumed after the All-Star Break. Since then, he’s batted .300 with a .534 slugging percentage with 14 home runs and 42 RBIs.  

He’s more than doubled his home runs and nearly matched his RBI total from the first half in 25 fewer games. 

With the adjustments, he’s still got some growing to do. He’s still not drawing walks at an ideal rate, but the change in the stance is a step in the right direction. 

To his credit as well, even when he experienced another brutal slump earlier in the month, he corrected course much quicker this time around. It lasted a couple of weeks compared to a few months. 

After this, he’s probably more open to embracing adjustments that will help elevate him further. 

“I’m sure, again, he’s a young player that’s continuing to learn and figure things out,” Snitker said. 

His milestone comes during a whimper, a 9-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates to open their final series of the season. But in a season like this one, the focus can still go to the milestones after a loss. After all, the goal is to see what can be taken into the offseason to be ready to go for next year. 

More From Atlanta Braves on SI