Braves place Harris (lower back) on injured list

ATLANTA -- Reigning National League Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II will spend the next week resting his ailing back.

The Braves placed Harris on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain and recalled outfielder Eli White from Triple-A Gwinnett on Friday before their game against the Padres.

"I don't think it's something serious," Harris said. "But you don't want to play through it and cause something worse. So I guess taking these days off would be best."

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The Braves and Harris seem confident he will be ready to play when he is eligible to come off the injured list on April 17. The young outfielder might have been ready to play near the end of this current homestand, but the club decided it was best to give Harris extra rest and avoid the risk of playing with a short roster for a few days.

"It's one of those things," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "It's early, and we don't want to push anybody. We want to get him right. He'd have likely been out of the lineup for four or five days. So we decided to just go ahead and take care of it."

Harris felt some back discomfort when he hit the outfield wall while pursuing a Paul Goldschmidt deep fly ball in the eighth inning Wednesday in St. Louis. It looked like he might have aggravated the injury when he slid awkwardly while stealing second base Thursday in the second inning of the Braves' 7-6 win against the Padres.

Harris alerted the team's medical staff after his back bothered him as he ran in to field a Trent Grisham single in the third inning. He was replaced by Sam Hilliard in center field at the start of the fourth.

"I didn't want to come out, but I felt it was best for me to take some precaution early in the season," Harris said.

Hilliard was in the starting lineup in center fielder on Friday night.

White enjoyed a strong Grapefruit League season, and he has homered three times through 17 at-bats with Triple-A Gwinnett.