The Atlanta Braves' outfield has been a true mess for quite a while now. While the unit came into the season as one of the best outfields in baseball, injuries have taken a substantial toll in 2024. First, the Braves lost reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuna Jr. for the season to a knee injury. Making matters even worse, Michael Harris II has been out since the middle of June with a pretty significant hamstring injury.
Losing Harris II in addition to Acuna Jr. has been devastating to the Braves on both sides of the ball. Not only is Harris a tremendous defender in center field (three Outs Above Average this season before he got hurt), but he also is generally a lock to be an .800ish OPS hitter at the plate. Given the state of the Braves' offense this season, that offensive production has been sorely missed.
After experiencing a setback during his rehab, it was unclear how long the Braves were going to be without Harris beyond that he was still expected to be back sometime in 2024. Fortunately, good news arrived on Tuesday as it was revealed that Harris would be starting his rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett this week.
Michael Harris II begins a rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett tonight.
— Justin Toscano (@JustinCToscano) August 6, 2024
Braves News: Michael Harris II to finally to begin rehab assignment
This is obviously tremendous news. The Braves did somewhat address their shortage of competent outfielders before the trade deadline by bringing back postseason heroes Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario. However, Rosario hasn't been particularly good and Soler's defensive limitations have made Atlanta's outfield pretty vulnerable with Harris out.
A certain amount of guarded optimism is required here, however. Hamstring injuries have an annoying habit of being slow to heal and flaring up from time to time, so the Braves are likely to take things relatively slow with Harris at first. However, if he shows no issues running the bases or playing the field, fans can expect his playing to increase relatively quickly after that.
Assuming all goes well and he gets a few games under his belt, it isn't crazy at all to think that Harris could be back patrolling center field for the Braves by next week. Nothing should be taken for granted given how this season has gone, but getting Harris back could be the boost this Braves team desperately needs.