Michael

Harris II

Harris is back patrolling center field and hitting second after being held out of Atlanta’s lineup for a pair of games against the Pirates over the weekend due to a lingering back issue. The 25-year-old came off the bench to deliver a bases-clearing double during Sunday’s comeback victory.

Harris has been battling a back issue and wasn’t healthy enough to start on Sunday, but he still delivered the game-winning hit. He’s in the midst of a career-best campaign. While his walk rate remains uninspiring, Harris’ bat-to-ball metrics have erupted in his age-25 season. His quality of contact is not only the best of his career but some of the best in the sport. Atlanta is off on Monday before a six-game road trip to face the White Sox and Mets.

The dynamic 25-year-old was pulled from Friday’s game due to tightness in his back. The Braves still believe that it’s a minor issue and that Harris won’t require a trip to the injured list. Mauricio Dubon will once again take his place in center field and will bat second for the Braves against Mason Montgomery and the Pirates on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta.

Mauricio Dubón’s recent power surge enables Atlanta to give Harris some extra time off after making an early exit from Friday’s series opener with back tightness. The 25-year-old center fielder is day-to-day heading into Sunday’s series finale at Truist Park.

Braves manager Walt Weiss told reporters after the game that it was only a minor issue and that Harris is expected to return to the team’s lineup on Saturday. Before exiting, the 25-year-old outfielder had been 2-for-5 with a run scored and a pair of strikeouts.

And this after he was robbed of a homer by Blake Dunn in the first. Harris hit a lined shot to left-center in a four-run top of the sixth that kept the game well in hand for the Braves and added another RBI single to cap Atlanta’s three-run second. Harris is hitting .302/.323/.603 with six homers and 13 RBI over his last 15 games, and while he wilted a bit in the first half of May, he’s at .299/.313/.536 for the month. He’s been a steal for where he went in fantasy drafts this offseason.

Harris was down in the seventh spot in the order tonight against a lefty, but he had three hits off Ranger Suarez, including the RBI double that knocked him out of the game in the sixth. He then homered off Tyron Guerrero in the eighth. It’s Harris’s second four-hit game this month. He’s hitting .304/.332/.533 with 12 homers and 32 RBI through 193 plate appearances.

Harris opened the scoring in the ballgame with a 418-foot (110.5 mph EV) two-run blast off of Sandy Alcantara before the Braves had even recorded an out in the top half of the first inning. He then capped off the scoring with a 404-foot (103.4 mph EV) solo shot off of Pete Fairbanks in the ninth inning. The dynamic 25-year-old outfielder is enjoying a terrific bounce back season, slashing .298/.324/.524 with 11 homers, 29 RBI and three stolen bases through his first 176 plate appearances.

Walt Weiss sure does love to tinker. He also has Michael Harris II batting second for the first time tonight. Ozzie Albies is in the cleanup spot. Riley is back down to .211/.279/.368 for the season after the last two games. He’s hit .250 with four homers and 11 RBI in 17 games this month, but that has come with a poor 22/2 K/BB.

Harris had the two hardest-hit balls of the game in his 111-mph single and 110-mph homer, which tied the game off Andrew Nardi in the sixth inning. It was Harris’s third homer this year off a lefty, matching his 2025 total in less than one-third as many plate appearances. He has nine homers overall and is 3-for-3 stealing bases.