This story was excerpted from Mark Bowman’s Braves Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
ATLANTA -- Even though Michael Harris II ranks as one of baseball’s least productive offensive players this year, Braves hitting coach Tim Hyers remains confident the 24-year-old center fielder can quickly regain the promise he had when he won the 2022 National League Rookie of the Year Award.
“I think if he can hold his posture, clean up a few things mechanically and then get back to getting balls in the strike zone, I think this thing can turn around in a heartbeat,” Hyers said. “He has it in him. He’s super talented.”
There was a preseason sense that if Harris avoided the injury bug that bit him the past couple seasons, he might be capable of hitting 30-plus homers and stealing at least 30 bases. But he has instead endured a nightmare season thus far. His struggles led to him being left out of the lineup for Saturday and Sunday’s games against the Phillies. And it wasn’t just because Philadelphia started a left-hander in both of these games.
“Maybe, something like this does calm things down for him,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s what I’m hoping.”
Harris entered this year having hit .285 with a .794 OPS through 362 career games (1,450 plate appearances). There was plenty of reason for optimism. Just nine other Braves have produced a .790-plus OPS over at least 1,400 plate appearances through their 23-year-old season.
Those players are: Eddie Mathews, Ronald Acuña Jr., Hank Aaron, Bob Horner, Andruw Jones, Freddie Freeman, Ozzie Albies, Joe Torre and Jason Heyward. Not bad company.
But Harris has struggled mightily this year, hitting .212 with six home runs and a .558 OPS. His OPS ranks last among MLB’s 159 qualified players.
“I've had times in the past where I was struggling, but came out of a little quicker than right now,” Harris said. “So yeah, us losing and being in this situation isn't the best. But, still got three months left.”
There is certainly a need to alter the mechanics. Harris’ averaged launch angle has dropped from 7.6 degrees in 2023 and 7.5 in 2024 to 5.6 degrees this year. This signals a different swing plane. More importantly, it has led to a downgrade in quality contact.
Groundball rate: 52.5% (2025), 49.4% (2024), 47.2% (2023)
Hard-hit rate: 40.2% (2025), 47% (2024), 48.5% (2023)
Barrel rate: 6.1%( 2025), 10% (2024), 10% (2023)
“I would say it's more [about] plate discipline,” Harris said. “I mean, mechanics are going to be there. They're not going to change that much. You just have to lock it in on what location you want and look for something you can hit.”
Pitches in the zone: 49.2% (2025), 51.5% (2024)
Chase Rate (swings vs. pitches outside the zone): 42.3% (2025), 39.6% (2024)
Harris entered Sunday ranked in the bottom two percentile in Chase Rate and he hasn’t drawn a walk in his past 130 plate appearances. This dates back to May 18, when he drew a walk in consecutive plate appearances at Fenway Park.
“There’s no doubt the needle can move in his direction, and we can get less chase,” Hyers said. “It's like every player who is kind of in his own head and it spirals and you start overthinking it. It gets magnified and starts consuming them. This often leads to you telling yourself not to chase and you end up chasing more. He’s got to figure out that’s the growing pains of a young player.”
Harris’ first full professional season was 2021 and he won his ROY honor the following year. This is his third full big league season, but he is still young and still developing offensively.
A few days off provided him to gain a mental break and an opportunity to look himself in the mirror and realize it’s time to make the changes necessary to regain the tremendous promise he showed before this season.