Michael Harris, II has been a polarizing figure for the Atlanta Braves this year.<\/p>\n
His early to mid-season slump had many calling for his reallocation to Triple-A, while others stayed adamant that Harris\u2019 time was coming; it would just take time.<\/p>\n
Those who stood with Harris got quite the talking point this past week, as the Braves centerfielder\u2019s numbers absolutely exploded. Harris batted 11-for-23, slashing .478\/.500\/1.000 with two doubles, triples, and homers, all while playing stellar defense.<\/p>\n
These heroics earned Harris NL Player of the Week honors.<\/p>\n Your National League Player of the Week: @MoneyyyMikeee! \ud83d\udcb8 pic.twitter.com\/kEMs6gQght<\/p>\n \u2014 Atlanta Braves (@Braves) July 28, 2025<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n When asked about his sudden success, Harris seemed to adopt the \u201cbetter late than never\u201d mentality.<\/p>\n \u201cThe only thing I can say is I find something mechanically or something that starts to get me in a groove towards the middle of the season to help me finish the season pretty well,\u201d Harris said, via MLB.com\u2019s Mark Bowman. \u201cI don\u2019t know why it\u2019s like that, but baseball is a game of adjustments. If you can\u2019t adjust, you can\u2019t play this game. So, I\u2019d rather find it in the middle of the season or late than never.\u201d<\/p>\n The former Rookie of the Year even found himself on cycle watch Saturday evening in a matchup against the Rangers.<\/p>\n In the top of the ninth, with a double, triple, and home run, all Harris needed was a single, yet once he saw he had extra bases available, he chose to make the hustle play and legged out his second triple of the game, effectively ending his chances at a cycle but putting the Braves in a better spot to win the game.<\/p>\n The Braves lost anyway, but it certainly wasn\u2019t Harris\u2019s fault. It just seems to be the way the season\u2019s going.<\/p>\n Despite Harris\u2019s heroics, the Braves still managed to put up one of their worst weeks in recent memory, as the team was swept by the Rangers and nearly swept by both the Giants and Yankees. Additionally, Atlanta suffered a 9-6 loss to Kansas City on Tuesday night while losing Ronald Acu\u00f1a to the 10-day IL (Achilles tightness) in the process.<\/p>\n The Braves could certainly use a team-wide \u201cgroove,\u201d as Harris put it, as the team currently sits 16 games below .500 and 16.5 games out of first in the NL East ahead of their Wednesday matchup against the Royals, which is slated to start at 2:10 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Harris II hit two doubles, triples and home runs over the past week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":72397,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\n\n