NORTH PORT, Fla. -- Upon revealing he began playing golf on a frequent basis this offseason, heralded Braves prospect Michael Harris II was asked what had been his longest drive?  

“The other day I had like 347 [yards] or something,” Harris said. 

While Harris might be a quick study in the golf world, this monstrous drive was just another product of the great strength he has displayed while quickly establishing himself as one of baseball’s best prospects. The young suburban Atlanta outfielder grew up idolizing Jason Heyward, and he may soon become the Braves’ latest hometown superstar.  

Harris, who turned 21 on Monday, is ranked as the Braves' No. 4 prospect and the league’s No. 89 prospect overall. He has experienced just one full professional season since being taken in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft, but his stock has soared as he has spent the past two years looking like a future superstar.

The Braves became well aware of Harris’ great upside as he impressed while playing against much more experienced talent at the team’s alternate training site during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. But the baseball world gained a greater appreciation when he hit .294 with seven homers and a .798 OPS in 420 plate appearances for High A Rome last year.  

Harris was successful with 27 of 31 stolen-base attempts and he earned a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove Award at the end of his first full season as a pro.

“He’s a special talent,” Braves hitting instructor Greg Walker said. “I think the scouts did a really good job and [scouting director Dana Brown] did a really good job of pulling the trigger on him pretty high. Nobody else was really on him as a hitter. Everybody else was on him as a pitcher.”

Four years after making the wise move to draft Austin Riley as a position player instead of as a pitcher, the Braves did the same with Harris, who had been committed to Texas Tech. Atlanta’s area scouts actually had Harris rated higher as a pitcher, but the club’s take changed when Brown traveled about 25 minutes south of downtown Atlanta to see the left-hander pitch for Stockbridge High School.

Harris pitched just three innings before moving to the outfield during that initial game Brown attended. It didn’t take long for the veteran scout to be sold on the kid’s future as a position player.

“His whole energy level changed when he got to the outfield,” Brown said. “He was bouncing around. He was like, more excited. When he was pitching, it was good enough to be drafted. But I just didn't get the vibe that this was what he really wanted to do.

"He hit a triple that day and about killed the third baseman. I was like, ‘Oh my God, this guy has got energy.’ It was the energy level, the excitement and the naturalness for the position. I was like I’ve seen this movie before.”

While scouting for nearly 30 years, Brown has seen the likes of Nick Markakis and James Loney produce successful careers after initially being projected by some to be pitchers. These experiences gave him even more confidence in Harris, who had also caught the Braves’ attention while playing in the 2018 Hank Aaron Invitational.

There certainly hasn’t been any reason to question Brown’s decision. Harris has quickly earned the respect of his fellow prospects, many of whom have seen the ball consistently jump off his bat since Braves Minor League Spring Training began on Sunday.

“He’s unreal,” Braves catching prosect Shea Langeliers said. “He’s an unreal athlete, an unreal baseball player and a really humble kid. He’s just awesome to be around.”

Growing up in the Atlanta area, Harris has memories of being around seven years old when his youth team got to play wiffleball before a Braves game at Turner Field. He played some games at Truist Park during his high school years and counts Ronald Acuña Jr.’s grand slam in the 2018 National League Division Series as one of his favorite moments as a fan.

Now, as he prepares to likely begin the upcoming season at the Double-A level, he anxiously looks forward to the chance to be a key member of his hometown team. His anticipation only grew a few months ago when he joined friends and family members to celebrate a postseason that concluded with the Braves winning the World Series.

“Just sitting there watching as a fan instead of a player was like crazy to me,” Harris said. “I was just screaming. It was unbelievable because you know Atlanta teams tend to get there and you know how that goes. So to actually do it and then have Georgia [win college football’s national championship] ... having two teams win in the same year was good.”