The discourse around the turnaround of Michael Harris II is nothing new. However, as the Atlanta Braves’ centerfielder continues to surge, we learn more about how it all came to be.
Along with the efforts of hitting coach Tim Hyers on the mechanical side, a tip from a Braves legend went a long way as well. The two-prong effort came from Hyers and Hall of Fame third baseman Chipper Jones.
While Hyers work on Harris’ stance, Jones provided a tip on how Harris should bring his hands to the ball.
“Chipper told me it’s better to swing up to down than down to up, so being up there is a good thing,” Harris said to The Athletic. “And I feel like everything’s been a lot cleaner since then, and I haven’t had to think as much.”
Hyers had reportedly been attempting to fix Harris’ swing for a large part of the year, suggesting changes that Harris eventually implemented, but early on, he “couldn’t get comfortable with it, despite having hit with his hands up there during his amateur and minor-league career,” per the Athletic.
The result was Harris was dealing with complaints of his presence in the Braves’ starting lineup, with many believing the centerfielder should be sent down to Triple-A.
That all changed after the All-Star Break, though, when Harris made those adjustments to his stance and swing, resulting in the Atlanta native going from being statistically the worst qualifying hitter in baseball to one of the best.
“I knew what kind of player I could be, and I’m starting to feel that now,” Harris said.
However, these fixes weren’t immediate. Harris had to take time to accept some of the changes.
Hyers had reportedly been attempting to fix Harris’ swing for months, but early on, he “couldn’t get comfortable with it, despite having hit with his hands up there during his amateur and minor-league career,” per the Athletic.
“The whole year he’s tried to find that spot, and he just couldn’t,” Hyers said. “Whenever he lowered them [after first being called up], his hands went back up to that spot. Because his whole life, he swung from there. But over time, our bodies want to go to comfort. So, he started to kind of load out here in no-man’s land in a weaker position.”
Harris eventually embraced trying it since it can’t hurt to try something that worked previously.
“We were trying to find something and trying to get those hands in the right spot,” Harris said. “And ultimately it came down to me just saying, all right, I’m just going to raise them up. It can’t hurt. I was doing it my whole life, so if I made the change to moving down after getting called up, why not be able to go back up now?”
Perhaps something wasn’t broken didn’t need to be fixed.
Despite his lack of performance at that time, though, Hyers stayed confident in Harris, and his teammates shared that sentiment.
“That was one of the first things Matt [Olson] told me at spring training,” Hyers said. “We were in the first couple of [practices], and he goes, ‘Tim, that’s one of those talented guys we have, if not the most talented guy we have. He’s a special talent.”
Harris’ stats don’t lie– he’s one of the best hitters in the league right now. His .342 average and 1.008 OPS since the All-Star Break are both top 10 among qualifying hitters. Some will call it too little too late, but others will say better late than never.
After all, he’s got future seasons to be ready for, and while adjustments are a constant in this game, they now they have the blueprint for what can work going forward.
