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Black MLB Players #7: CF Michael Harris II, Atlanta Braves
Michael Harris II is a throwback player with some modern qualities, combining qualities that offer appeal to the baseball traditionalist and the baseball modernist.
Background + Path To Professional Baseball
Michael Harris II is a twenty-one-year-old center fielder who plays for the Atlanta Braves from DeKalb, Georgia. He was drafted by the Braves in the third round(98th overall) of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Stockbridge High School. He was ecstatic to be selected by the hometown team he grew up watching and rooting for.
Harris received a $548,000 signing bonus when he signed his professional contract and forewent his commitment to Texas Tech. A fixture on Atlanta’s amateur baseball scene, he participated in the Marquis Grissom Baseball Association in South Atlanta for years. Former Atlanta Braves outfielder and Atlanta native Marquis Grissom founded this amateur league.
Harris credits Grissom for helping him become a competent defender in the outfield and staying on point with the game's mental aspects. Grissom would quiz Harris on potential game decisions and what to do in reaction to them.
Harris was a two-way player in high school, and while many teams preferred him as a pitcher, the Braves were intending to make him a full-time position player. Harris preferred being a position player over pitching and wanted to be on the field as much as possible.
His professional career started in the Gulf Coast League in 2019 at 18, where he put up a .349/.403/.514 slash line in 31 games before getting a late promotion to the Braves Low-A affiliate where he struggled in 22 games. Minor League Baseball was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so Harris trained at the Braves alternate site during 2020, where he was one of the youngest players.
The Braves were impressed with what he showed at the Alternate Site in 2020, assigning him to the High-A affiliate of the organization to begin the 2021 MiLB season.
Harris put up a .294/.362/.436 line in 101 games with 26 doubles, 27 steals, and seven home runs. Running an 18% K rate, 8% walk rate, and 114 wRC+ in a High-A East League where he was 2.9 years younger than the average player, he began to turn heads with his potential.
For the 2022 season, the former two-way player began with 43 games playing for Atlanta’s Double-A affiliate. After going .305/.372/.506 with 16 doubles, 11 steals, and five home runs in 196 plate appearances the Braves called him up to make his MLB debut.
Playing, 114 games at the MLB level, Harris went .297/.339/.515 with 27 doubles, 19 home runs, and 20 steals. When compared to the other talented individuals of the 2022 rookie class, the lefty ranked third in batting average, fourth in home runs, fourth in steals, and third in doubles. He won the 2022 NL Rookie of the Year Award.
Contract
Michael Harris is signed to an eight-year contract for $72 million dollars that runs from 2023 to 2030. There is a $15 million dollar club option for 2031 with a $5 million dollar buyout and a $20 million dollar club option for 2032 with a $5 million dollar buyout.
Player Profile
Michael Harris II is 6'0'’, and 195 pounds. He bats and throws left-handed. He has a compact but athletic build. Short but tapered torso, strong arms, and wrists to go with a slim lower body.
Hitting
Harris stands upright in the left-handed batter’s box with a slightly open stance, employing a quiet and repeatable swing.
He has one of the most aggressive approaches among his peers in the outfield, as his 52.2% Swing Percentage is in the top 15 for the 2022 season per FanGraphs. This directly correlates with his ability to draw walks.
He has an above-average eye at the dish but will most likely post walk rates that are below average to average based on his swing-heavy approach. Harris focuses on driving the ball to all fields and shortens his swing in two-strike counts to optimize his ability to make contact.
Harris has an above-average hit tool despite the 24.5% strikeout rate, as that is related to his habit to swing the bat. He is extremely productive when right-handed pitchers and struggles against left-handed pitchers. His batting averages in the minors were well above .300, and posting a .297 average in his first MLB season is a green flag.
Having never posted a ground ball rate below 45% as a professional, Harris hits a lot of ground balls although he still accrues extra-base hits frequently. The high BABIPs he has posted throughout his professional career attests to his ability to produce offensively despite a swing that produces a lot of ground balls.
Based on his MiLB Trackman data, Harris’s average exit velocity is 90 mph, his hard-hit rate is 42%, and his maximum exit velocity is 107 mph. He has carried his ability to make hard contact at a high rate over to the majors, ranking in the 61st percentile in average exit velocity, 76th percentile in hard-hit rate, and 83rd percentile in Expected Slugging (xSLG) per MLB’s Baseball Savant.
Fielding
The former two-way player is an elite defensive center fielder, ranking in the top five amongst players at his position in Defensive Runs Saved(DRS), Ultimate Zone Rating(UZR), and Outs Above Average(OAA). As a former pitcher that could reach 93 mph on the mound, Harris has a powerful and accurate throwing arm that ranks in the 95th percentile per Baseball Savant.
Baserunning
Michael Harris is an elite baserunner, plain and simple. Out of the 81 outfielders to record at least 400 plate appearances during the 2022 season, he ranked third in BsR with 5.9 per FanGraphs. During his time in the minor leagues, he stole 46 bases while only being caught nine times. During his first season at the major league level, he stole 20 bases while only being caught twice.
Conclusion
One of many talented Black baseball players from the Metro Atlanta area making their way into the majors, Michael Harris II is getting the chance to make his name known in a similar fashion to his mentor Marquis Grissom. Arguably the centerpiece of an impressive young corps that Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has constructed, he has the talent to lead the quest to bring a dynasty to the team he grew up watching. He is a throwback player with a bit of modern flair, combining qualities that offer appeal to the baseball traditionalist and the baseball modernist.