Michael Harris II’s 2025 season has been tough to watch—and even tougher for him to play through—but inside the Atlanta Braves clubhouse, there’s still belief that a turnaround is not only possible but imminent.
Despite being benched for the final two games of the weekend series in Philadelphia, not just because of lefty matchups but as a strategic breather, the 24-year-old center fielder still has his coaching staff in his corner. Braves hitting coach Tim Hyers sees a clear path to revival.
“I think if he can hold his posture, clean up a few things mechanically, and then get back to getting balls in the strike zone, I think this thing can turn around in a heartbeat,” Hyers said this weekend. “He has it in him. He’s super talented.”
That talent isn’t just hype. Harris walked into 2025 with a .285 career average and a .794 OPS through his age-23 season—a statistical neighborhood occupied by Braves greats like Hank Aaron, Ronald Acuña Jr., Freddie Freeman, and Andruw Jones.
But this year, the wheels have fallen off. He’s slashing .212/.250/.308 with six home runs and a .558 OPS, the lowest among all 159 qualified hitters in Major League Baseball.
Where Things Are Breaking Down
While some of it comes down to mechanical shifts—like a drop in his average launch angle from 7.5 degrees in 2024 to 5.6 this season—the bigger problem may be mental. Harris is chasing more, walking less, and hitting the ball on the ground too often.
- Groundball rate: 52.5% (2025), up from 47.2% in 2023
- Hard-hit rate: down to 40.2% from 48.5% in 2023
- Barrel rate: just 6.1%, nearly cut in half from prior seasons
- Chase rate: 42.3%, one of the worst in MLB
- Walks: None in his last 130 plate appearances
This isn’t just a slump—it’s a prolonged spiral. But Hyers insists that’s part of the development process.
“It’s like every player who is kind of in his own head and it spirals and you start overthinking it,” he said. “It gets magnified and starts consuming them… He’s got to figure out that’s the growing pains of a young player.”
What Harris Is Saying—and What Comes Next
Harris hasn’t lost self-awareness. He admitted he’s struggled longer than usual this time, but he also knows the season’s not lost. “I’ve had times in the past where I was struggling but came out of [it] a little quicker than right now,” Harris said. “Still got three months left.”
He also downplayed the mechanical concerns, saying the bigger issue is plate discipline. “Mechanics are going to be there… you just have to lock in on what location you want and look for something you can hit.”
For now, manager Brian Snitker is hoping the brief time off gives Harris space to breathe, recalibrate, and return to the plate with a clearer head. “Maybe, something like this does calm things down for him,” Snitker said. “That’s what I’m hoping.”
A Key Braves Player at a Crossroads
Harris isn’t just another young hitter struggling—he’s a former Rookie of the Year who was supposed to be a cornerstone of the Braves’ next generation. That’s why his early career comparisons were so head-turning.
Now, he’s got to show that those weren’t flukes and that the version of himself we saw in 2022 isn’t gone—it’s just buried under layers of overthinking, bad timing, and mechanical misfires.
The good news? He’s still 24. There’s still time. The Braves still believe. But with every week that passes, the urgency to figure it outgrows a little louder.
