Atlanta Braves centerfielder Michael Harris II came into the 2025 season as a favorite to post at least a 20-20 season while providing Gold Glove defense in the outfield. The baserunning and fielding has been as advertised as Harris' baserunning value is in the 83rd percentile in all of baseball and his five Outs Above Average puts him amongst MLB's elite. Unfortunately, his bat has severely lagged behind in 2025...at least, it was until recently.
On July 10, Harris was the "proud" owner of a .205/.229/.310 line which made him one of, if not the worst qualified hitter in all of baseball which is certainly not what anyone predicted for him this year. However, since that date, the 2022 Rookie of the Year seems to have turned a corner, thanks in part to a change to his batting stance, that is finally paying massive dividends.
Braves fans may be able to breathe sigh of relief after Michael Harris II's recent hot streak
Over Harris' last 20 games, he has been on quite the roll with a .363/.386/.625 slash line including three homers and 12 extra-base hits overall. The contact has been orders of magnitude better than it had been and Harris has also been able to cut down on the strikeouts that plagued him all season long. Harris kept being beat on pitches outside and opposing pitchers took advantage of his aggressive tendencies, but he's been able to handle those pitches much better now that he has changed his stance back.
Now, Harris is still way too aggressive at the plate as he is still not walking enough (three walks over 20 games is almost impressively bad and hard to do). However, that has been a flaw in Harris' game for a long time and one that can be somewhat ignored if he is getting the most out of the rest of his game like he is right now.
The question now is if Harris can keep this up without regressing again. This is not the first time when Harris has gotten into a funk and had to find his way out, though it is certainly the longest it has taken to turn things around. With the 2025 season a wash, Harris and the Braves need to take these improvements and find a way to make them stick for a full season. If he can do that, Braves fans might finally be able to see what Harris is really capable of.