Here’s a story you didn’t see coming back in June. The Atlanta Braves centerfielder Michael Harris II spent the first half of 2025 looking like he’d forgotten how to hit a baseball. Now, he has turned into one of the most dangerous bats in the game since the All-Star break.
Harris is sitting fifth in MLB in batting average at .359, fourth in OPS at 1.064, and tied for fourth in home runs with six since the break. Yes, that’s the same number of homers he hit in 93 games before the Midsummer Classic. That’s a man flipping the script.
Back To His Braves Rookie of the Year Blueprint
The difference is his mechanics. He’s moved his hands up by his ears, widened his stance — basically dialing it back to his 2022 Rookie of the Year setup, which also happened to be the best season of his career. Barrel rate? More than doubled, from 6.1% to 14.1%. Ground ball rate? Slashed from 54% to 35%. Translation: he’s driving the ball again instead of beating it into the dirt.
And you know what? This is a pattern. Harris has always been a strong second-half hitter — but he’s usually going from good to great, not what we saw earlier t his year. Credit where it’s due: he’s made the changes, and it’s showing up big in the box score.
For the Braves, this is more than a feel-good comeback arc. It’s a lifeline for an offense that’s been flat-out dreadful in 2025. Sure, Harris alone isn’t going to save this lineup — other guys still need to wake up — but locking him back in is a huge first step toward avoiding another offensive nightmare next year.
Manager Brian Snitker said it best: “That’s what this game is all about… it never stops, making adjustments.” Hall of Famers did it up until their final at-bats, and Harris is proving he’s willing to put in that same grind.
Now, will he keep it up for six more weeks? We’ll see. Baseball has a way of humbling you fast. But for now? Michael Harris II is raking, and that’s a sentence Braves fans have been desperate to say all season.
