PITTSBURGH — Last season, in his debut campaign, Michael Harris II crushed fastballs.
“At some point,” he said, “they were going to adjust to me and start throwing me different pitches.”
They did, and he struggled with breaking balls.
Now, Harris’ numbers on breaking balls, and specifically sliders, are much better.
Last season, he hit .342 on fastballs, but only .238 on breaking balls.
In 2023, he’s batting .316 on fastballs and .295 on breaking balls. He’s hit five homers on breaking pitches and four on fastballs, despite seeing a much higher percentage of fastballs.
“I guess it’s just being on time,” Harris said of the key to this. “When I’m on time for the fastball, I just react to the off-speed, I can see that a lot longer. Being on time kind of helps me stay in the zone longer to be able to drive the off-speed.”
To be clear, “breaking balls” includes sliders, curveballs and sweepers. “Off-speed pitches” are those aforementioned offerings, plus change-ups.
Like last season, he’s hitting .250 versus curveballs – though he’s whiffing far less on them this season. But he’s batting .318 on sliders and .385 on sweepers this season, compared with hitting .222 on sliders last season.
Last season, Harris won National League Rookie of the Year after flashing all five tools throughout the season. He hit .297 with an .853 OPS.
He started slowly this season. But this hasn’t been a sophomore slump. Harris entered Thursday batting .292 with an .811 OPS. He’s still playing incredible defense.
Harris still is one of the Braves’ core pieces.
“I was impressed with him in spring training the last couple of years before he even came up here,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said Wednesday. “I mean, he was a really impressive young man, and just how he carried himself and the skill set and all that. I’ve been impressed with him from the get-go. You kind of saw him and figured he’d be a young big leaguer. It wasn’t gonna take him long to get through the system. And he just continues to learn.
“He’s a very grounded guy, he’s very consistent in what he does. I don’t see him getting too high or too low. He just kind of stays the course, plays the game and I think, with the experiences, he’s continuing to improve.”
Braves starters for the Mets series
The Braves on Thursday announced their projected starting pitchers for this weekend’s series versus the Mets in New York.
On Friday, Charlie Morton will open the three-day, four-game series.
For Saturday’s doubleheader, Spencer Strider will start one game. The Braves haven’t announced a starter for the other game. They also haven’t decided on which of the two contests each starter will pitch.
Yonny Chirinos will pitch Sunday’s series finale.
Michael Soroka and Allan Winans seem like prime candidates to fill Saturday’s vacancy. Soroka and Winans are scheduled to start Saturday and Sunday, respectively, for Triple-A Gwinnett.
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