NORTH PORT, Fla. – As Michael Harris II looks back on last season, when he started in a slump and then overcame it, he realizes he learned two things.
One is a mechanical adjustment. We’ll get to it later.
The other is this:
“I could get out of a hole like that,” Harris said. “I guess if I ever get like that again, I would just keep pushing like I did last year and hopefully make it out.”
This second lesson might be just as valuable as the first. It gave Harris confidence. It is the reason he believes his sophomore season was better than his rookie year.
In 2023, he learned how to deal with baseball’s inevitable valleys. He experienced the worst stretch of baseball in his life … then was so good in the months after it that we can view his season as a success.
This is baseball, so Harris will slump again at some point.
But when he does, he’ll have more confidence because of last season.
“It gives me a lot (of confidence), because I don’t think a lot of people could get out of that, and I didn’t think I could either,” Harris said. “To be able to do that and get up to where my numbers were the year before, it was pretty, I guess, impressive for me. I feel like last year was a better year for me than the rookie year because I learned a lot more and dug myself out of a deep hole, and still got up to where a lot of people don’t get. It was pretty impressive. Hopefully I don’t have to start off like that again. Hopefully I can just be that second guy throughout the whole season this year.”
In an interview that lasted several minutes, Harris didn’t mention this important note: He suffered a lower-back sprain in April, which put him behind after spring training. He doesn’t make excuses. But that would be an acceptable one. The injury created another hurdle.
Through play on June 11, Harris was batting .190 over 142 at-bats.
The rest of the way, he batted .333 with a .906 OPS.
He finished the season with a .293 batting average and an .808 OPS, with 18 homers. This is, by the standards of the average hitter, a great season. Some context here: Among center fielders with at least 350 plate appearances last season, Harris’ batting average ranked first, his OPS fifth.
It helped that he made a mechanical adjustment. He used to have a high leg kick, and he toned that down around June. Then he began rolling. He never stopped pushing.
Through it all, he kept his head down. He would show up early and get to work. He hit off the machine. He dissected video of himself from spring training to see what had changed.
“I mean, he’s just the same guy, always. Which, if I was 22 in the big leagues and I wasn’t hitting the way I was, I don’t think I’d be able to act the way that he did,” Matt Olson said. “It’s a big testament to him and just the confidence he has. He’s one of the best center fielders in baseball and he knows it, and he carries himself that way. Not in a negative way, not in a cocky or egotistical way, but kind of has that quiet confidence about himself, which makes him so good.”
Through two seasons, Harris is already one of the best center fielders in baseball. He can impact the game with his glove, bat and feet. What could his third season bring? That’s fun to ponder.
There are no guarantees in this game, except maybe this one: A player will slump again. No one is immune.
But after last season, Harris knows he can handle anything.
“I credit Michael for just hanging with himself,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “...When you don’t lose belief in yourself and stay the course and continue to do the work and believe in yourself. It’s like a team that gets on a bad run. Sometimes there’s just nothing you can do about it, you just gotta handle it. And if you handle it, there’s something good on the other end. I have a lot of respect for Michael and how he handled the whole thing. He just kept playing through it and eventually he got it going.”
