Atlanta Braves star rookie Michael Harris II has shown serious pop since his arrival, but is a 40-homer season on the horizon?
After last week’s game (07/08/22) Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker had the following to say about Michael Harris II.
"“I think it’s a credit to Michael. I mean, [teams have] video on him and all that, but he’s making adjustments himself on the fly. The ball jumps off his bat, that’s for sure.”"
Mike Bard is the Mississippi Braves’ hitting coach. He worked with Harris to help him stop chasing pitches and to unflatten his swing early in the 2022 season. Harris had zero homers in 58 ABs prior to that meeting with Bard.
Between Double-A and the Majors, he’s now compiled 12 homers in just 258 at-bats since his meeting with Bard.
Bard believes Harris has the ability to be among the league’s best bashers in his future.
"Between the prospect rankings and getting a few starts with the Atlanta mainstays during Spring Training, Harris had crazy high expectations put onto him this season. Somehow, he has already soared well over those – even Bard believes a 40-home-run MLB season is in the cards."
I don’t know if he’s got a 40-homer season in his future. I do know he has tremendous contact skills (18.96% K rate in the minors) with a swing that covers both sides of the plate.
He hits to all fields with authority. Although he has only hit 20% of his batted balls to the opposite field this season, we’ve seen him take outside pitches the other way with conviction.
Of his seven homers this season, five are to the opposite field or center field. If you draw a line down the middle of the field you will split his doubles in half on either side of the line.
In 2021 at High-A Rome, Harris only hit seven homers in 101 games — that was his career-high, professionally. He’s already matched that this season in just 39 major league games.
It’s a fool’s game to take his pace over his first 39 games and even try to imagine how many homers he may or may not hit in the future. Right now his 162-game pace is 29 homers. It’s possible he’s on a bit of a hot streak and will eventually cool off.
He’s shown serious pop in the 39 MLB games he’s appeared in. He currently ranks among league leaders in important power statistics. You can read all about how his stats since his debut stack up against the rest of the league here.
His BABIP is very high and he puts the ball on the ground a lot. Good hitters tend to have high BABIPs, that’s what makes them good hitters. So, who knows?
With his defense and ability to contribute in every way possible, Braves fans will be happy either way. All the kid has to do is go play his game.
You all tell us. Will Harris ever hit 40 homers in a season?