Graduated from Stockbridge (Ga.) High School, approximately 40 miles southeast of Truist Park...Was a two-way player...On the mound, the left-hander struck out 172 of the 469 batters he faced (36.7%), while posting a 1.87 ERA in his senior season...At the plate, the switch-hitter had a career .442 batting average in 74 games...On Aug. 16, 2022, the club announced Harris II signed an eight-year contract extension, including club options for 2031 & 2032...Selected by the Braves in the third round (98th overall) of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft.
2023
Awards: National League Player of the Week (6/18). NL Gold Glove Finalist (CF)...NL Ranks: Batting average (7th, .293)...23-year-old Michael Harris II completed his second major league season, posting a slash line of .293/.331/.477 (148-for-505) in 138 games...He hit 18 home runs, 33 doubles and three triples, while recording 57 RBI and 76 runs...Went 20-for-24 in stolen base attempts .. Established career-highs in games played, runs, hits, doubles, walks (25) and total bases (241)...Made his first Opening Day roster in 2023...Started 137 of Atlanta's games during the regular season; all in center field (appeared once as a pinch-hitter, drawing a walk)...Started each of the club's four postseason games in center field..Went hitless in 13 plate appearances...Listed No. 5 on MLB Network's "Top 10 Center Fielders Right Now" list, ranked fifth, entering 2023...Listed No. 50 on MLB Network's "Top 100 Players Right Now" list...Ranked 53rd, entering 2023...Over the last two seasons, he ranks third among center fielders in assists (11) and 10th in FanGraphs' Defensive Runs Saved (10)...From June 1, through the end of the regular season, he batted .326 (129-for-396) - this, after hitting .174 (19-for-109) through May...It's the fourth-largest increase in batting average (+.152) through May/post-June 1, by any qualifying player in the Divisional Era (since 1969), behind Chone Figgins (+.216) in 2007, Joey Votto (+.165) in 2016 and Dave Roberts (+.159) in 1973...Hit .325 (89-for-274) post-All-Star break; sixth- highest among qualifiers...He was one of three Braves in the top-10 in that regard, along with Ronald Acuna Jr., third (.345) and Matt Olson, eighth (.321)...Led the majors with 94 hits from the No. 9 spot in the batting order; most within a single-season in the franchise's Modern Era (since 1900) - besting his own mark of 70, set in 2022...Hit .301 (94-for- 312) in 88 starts batting ninth...Matched his stolen base total (20) from his rookie season, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to steal at least 20 bases in each of their first two big league seasons...Joined Steve Brodie (1890-91). Bill Bruton (1953-54) and Rafael Furcal (2000-01)...Of his 37 career longballs, 26 have been hit on the road - including six over an eight-game road trip, spanning Sept. 11-20; his most home runs over any eight-game span in his career...Had 13 games with at least three hits, improving on his total from his rookie campaign (10)...Ronald Acuna Jr. (22) was the only Brave with more such efforts...Ozzie Albies also had 13...Homered and stole a base within the same game on three separate occasions...The first instance of his career - June 12 at Detroit. followed by June 14 at Detroit and Aug. 25 at San Francisco (two stolen bases)...Placed on Atlanta's 10-day injured list (lower back strain) from April 7 to April 28, missing 19 games...lncluded a two-game rehabilitation stint with Triple-A Gwinnett...Delivered the game-winning hit (double) in the bottom of the 12th inning, May 7 vs. Baltimore, off LHP Cionel Perez, marking the first walk-off hit and RBI of his career...Fell a triple shy of the cycle, June 7 vs. New York (NL) - his first three-hit effort of the season...Hit a go-ahead two-run home run in eighth inning; the second go-ahead home run in the eighth inning-or-later of his career, also August 12, 2022 at Miami...Notched his third career four-hit game, June 14 at Detroit (Game 1); first since Aug. 28, 2022 at St. Louis...He'd add two more four-hit games to his ledger by season's end: June 18 vs. Colorado and Aug. 18 at San Francisco...His four RBI in the contest also matched his career-high, done twice previously...Paired with a three-hit game at Detroit on June 12, it's the only time in his career that he's turned in consecutive games with three-or-more hits...Went 5-for-5 with a three-run home run and a double, June 18 vs. Colorado...Marked his second game with at least four hits over a six-game span, also: June 14 at Detroit; matching his number of four-hit efforts over the first 158 games of his career...Per Statcast. his blast traveled 453 feet; the longest of his career...Became the first Brave to record at least five hits in a game, without making an out. since Nick Markakis, April 4, 2019 vs. Chicago (NL)...At 22 years-103 days-old, he became the sixth youngest player in the franchise's Modern Era (since 1900) to record at least five hits within a single-game and the youngest since Andruw Jones (21 years-360 days) on April 18, 1999 at Colorado...Named National League Player of the Week for the period ending June 18; the first such honor of his career...Hit .556 (15-for-27); highest among qualifiers over that span, with three home runs, two doubles, nine RBI. eight runs and two stolen bases, posting an OPS of 1.499...Hit a go-ahead single off RHP Yunior Marte, breaking a scoreless tie in the 10th inning, June 22 at Philadelphia...It was his second career go-ahead RBI in the ninth inning-or-later; the other: a 12th inning walk-off double, May 7 vs. Baltimore...Went 3-for-3 or better, three times over a 12- game span, from June 14-26...In the Modern Era (since 1900). the only other player age 22-or-younger to have three such efforts in a span of 12 games is Hall-of-Farner Ted Williams in 1939...Following the All-Star break, hit safely in 13 of 14 contests, including a 12-game hitting streak, spanning July 16-30 - the majors longest streak at the time...Ranks as the second-longest hitting streak of his big league career, behind a 15-game run from Aug. 22-Sept. 9, 2022...Slashed .375/.405/.525 (15-for-40) with four doubles and one triple...Hit a pair of solo home runs, Aug. 1 vs. Los Angeles (AL) bringing his season total to 11...Snapped a 20-game homerless drought, which matched the longest of his career...Became the 40th player (13th active) in the Modern Era (since 1900). to notch double-digit home runs and stolen bases in each of their first two MLB seasons...Additionally, became the ninth Brave to reach double figures in home runs during the 2023 season; matching the franchise record, done four times previously: 2007, '18-19 and '22...He is one of 35 players (nine being primary pitchers) in MLB history with at least two career multi-homer games from the No. 9 spot in the batting order...The only other Braves to do so are Lew Burdette (1957-58) and Tony Cloninger (1966) - both RHP...Went 4-for-5 with a stolen base, Aug. 18 vs. San Francisco, marking the fifth four-hit game of his career and third of the 2023 season...His five four-hit games were the most by a Brave through the first 213 games of their career since Chipper Jones tallied eight over the 1995-96 seasons...Doubled in three straight games, Sept. 26-28 at Chicago (NL); matching the longest such streak of his career, also: Aug. 18-20, 2022.
2022
Awards: National League Rookie of the Year, National League Rookie of the Month (3x), Baseball America MLB All-Rookie Team...NL Ranks: Stolen bases (T9th, 20)...21-year-old Michael Harris II played his first Major League season in 2022...He finished with a .297 batting average (123-for-414), 19 home runs, 64 RBI and 75 runs scored...On Aug. 16, the club announced Harris II signed an eight-year contract extension, including club options for 2031 & 2032...Among rookies with at least 300 plate appearances, ranked highly in multiple categories: Slugging Percentage (first, .514), OPS (second, 853), Batting Average (second, .297), RBI (fourth, 64), Runs (fourth, 75), Stolen Bases (fourth, 20), Home Runs (T4th, 19), On-Base Percentage (sixth, .339)...Hit. 383 (36-for-94) with runners in scoring position, third-best in MLB (min. 400 PA) behind Freddie Freeman (LAD, .391) and Joc Pederson (SF, .388)...The rookie to match Harris’ .383 batting average with RISP (min. 400 PA) was Oakland’s Jemile Weeks, who hit .395 (32-for-81) in those situations in 2011...Last N.L. rookie was Todd Helton (COL), who hit .386 (51-for-132) with RISP during the '98 season...Was named National League Rookie of the Month in June, August and September...The last players to win three Rookie of the Month awards in the same season were Yordan Álvarez and Pete Alonso, who each did it in 2019...Álvarez won it in the American League from June-August, while Alonso won it in the National League in April, June and September...In “Late & Close” situations, Harris hit .406/.449/.719 (26-for-64) with five doubles, five home runs, 13 RBI and a 1.168 OPS...Harris is only the sixth player, 21-or-younger, in modern MLB history (since 1901) to bat above .400 in late & close situations (min. 400 PA), and the first since Hall-of-Famer Ted Simmons (STL) hit .410 in such situations in 1971...“Late & Close” situations are defined as plate appearances occurring in the seventh inning or later with the batting team tied, ahead by one, or the tying run at least on deck...Posted a 4.8 fWAR this season, the second-highest by a Braves rookie hitter in modern franchise history...Rico Carty accumulated 4.9 fWAR in his rookie 1964 season...On the pitching side, Irv Young (5.6 fWAR, 1905) and Spencer Strider (4.8 fWAR, 2022) have also reached Harris’ mark...Hit .489 (22-for-45) on the first pitch this season, good for second in the NL and sixth in MLB among all players (min. 400 PA)...Riley Greene (DET, .500) was the only rookie ahead of him...The last Brave to eclipse .489 on the first pitch (min. 400 PA) was Freddie Freeman, who hit .494 on the initial offering in 2016.
2021
Spent the entire 2021 season at High-A Rome, posting a .294 batting average (110-for-374) with 26 doubles, three triples, seven home runs and 64 RBI...Appeared at all three outfield positions as well as designated hitter...Enters the 2022 system as the No. 1 prospect in Atlanta's farm system, according to MLB.com.
2020
Added to Atlanta's 60-man player pool on 7/15...Spent the rest of the season at the club's alternate training site...Appeared in two exhibition games during summer camp in July…Went 1-for-4 (.250) with one RBI and two strikeouts...Ended the season ranked by MLB.com as Atlanta’s No. 12 prospect.
2019
Split his first professional season between rookie-level GCL and Single-A Rome, batting .277 (53-for-191) with two home runs, 27 RBI, eight stolen bases and 26 runs scored in 53 games...Named by the organization as the GCL Braves’ Player of the Year…Led the team in batting average (.349), on-base percentage (.403), slugging percentage (.514) and OPS (.917)…Also tabbed as the club’s Player of the Month for July…Batted .379/.423/.561 in 19 games that month.
