Michael Harris II and Jason Heyward: Who Got Off to a Better Start?

Before Michael Harris II, the last time the Atlanta Braves had a left-handed swinging and throwing rookie outfielder with phenomenal defense was Jason Heyward in 2010.

Looking at the two players, there are a few similarities. On June 29th, 2022, Harris played in his 30th big league game. Today, we’re going to look at the first 30-games of the careers of Michael Harris II and Jason Heyward.

So far through his first 30-games in 2022, the 21-year-old Harris is batting over .300 and has made some phenomenal catches in the outfield.

If you remember Heyward’s MLB debut in 2010, you may recall his first career at-bat where he smacked a long home run into right field at Turner Field.

Harris did not start his career with such a bang, but his performance has shown much promise for the future of the Atlanta Braves.

The Stats…

First looking at the offensive statistics for the first 30-games (May 28 – June 29, 2022) of Michael Harris II’s career, Harris hit for a slash line of .327/.351/.509/.860.

Harris accumulated 36 hits, 19 runs, 7 doubles, 2 triples, 3 home runs, and 15 RBI.

When compared with Heyward, from April 5 – May 12, 2010, Heyward slashed for .301/.431/.613/.1.044 with 28 hits, 20 runs, 5 doubles, 0 triples, 8 home runs, and 28 RBI.

One area Harris differs from Heyward however is with his patience at the plate. Harris only had 3 walks and 28 strikeouts to Heyward’s 20 walks and 27 strikeouts.

Heyward had 5 more home runs and 1 less extra-base hit than Harris.

Looking at statistics, Heyward had more power and patience at the plate and got on base more.

Both players provided production at the plate, but what about in the outfield?

Heyward has won 5 gold gloves for his talent in the outfield through his 13-year career; two of those came with the Braves.

We have seen what Harris is capable of with the stellar fielding he continues to show off. Looking at Statcast data, Harris has a top 6 reaction time of all qualifying outfielders for fielding and the 32-year-old Heyward is currently ranked in the 70s on that same list.

This data is not available for Heyward in 2010, but we can infer Heyward was pretty good from the gold gloves he won, even though he did not win his first gold glove until 2012.

I do not have access to sprint speed data for Heyward in 2010, however, since 2015, Statcast shows Heyward’s average sprint speed is approximately 27 MPH.

For Harris, Statcast shows his sprint speed is above 29 MPH and is in the top 10% for sprint speed in the league. In these 30-games, Heyward had 2 stolen bases and Harris had 4.

What does this mean for Michael Harris?

With stats that are not available from 2010 for Heyward, we can see that Harris is elite when compared to other rookies in the league.

Harris has an Outs Above Average (OAA) that is 5, which puts him 9th overall in MLB with former Braves outfielder Cristian Pache at 4th (7 OAA).

Harris also has the 2nd highest success rate on catches in the outfield at 97%.

Heyward and Harris have a lot of parallels. If Harris can keep his performance up, he will surely be a finalist for NL Rookie of the Year in 2022 and may have some gold gloves in the future.

The 21-year-old also has a chance to earn a permanent spot on the roster and arguably has already done so.

Heyward finished the 2010 season 2nd in NL Rookie of the Year voting and lost the honor to San Francisco great Buster Posey. Do you think Michael Harris will win the NL Rookie of the Year, or do you think Harris will lose the honor to someone else?