When Ronald Acuña Jr. went down with a hamstring injury, one reason why it was particularly painful for the Atlanta Braves was the health of Michael Harris II. Harris has been dealing with a quad injury for a little while now, and while the Braves opted not to put him on the injured list, he has not been playing defense until recently, which, in addition to Acuña Jr.'s injury, really put the Braves' outfield depth to the test.
Thankfully, there have been some very positive developments towards getting back to normal. After having Harris play left field for a couple of games this week, Braves manager Walt Weiss talked a bit about how Harris was being handled and revealed that Harris should be playing center field again very soon.
Walt Weiss just revealed that Michael Harris II's return to center field may be imminent
After Harris' first start in left, Weiss explained the team's reasoning as to why they were handling Harris the way they were. “We’ve got to see how this goes, but this whole thing has been a progression from being off to being available as a pinch-hitter to [being used as a designated hitter] and now playing the field. It’s little by little, but I think center field is in the close future.”
This is great news for the Braves, and it should only get better. Once Ha-Seong Kim is back, that will free up Mauricio Dubon to play as much in the outfield as is needed. Assuming Acuña Jr. doesn't miss too much time (which sounds likely), the Braves could be at full strength here in a couple of weeks aside from their long-term injuries.
With the Braves having the day off on Thursday, followed by a three-game series against the Dodgers to end the road trip before another day off, Atlanta's lineup decisions are going to tell us a lot about Harris. It would not be shocking if Weiss played Harris in center against LA, but maybe build in an extra day off for him for safety. However, if the lineups are announced on Friday and Harris is still in left field or slotted as the designated hitter, normalcy may have to wait longer than we hoped.
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