“I turned it on”: Michael Harris II delivering a spectacular all-round performance for the Atlanta Braves
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Michael Harris II
The Atlanta Braves had to make way for Michael Harris II so they traded away Cristian Pache and Drew Waters, two outfield prospects, which recently proved to be useful for Atlanta. On Thursday night, with his bat and then helped them keep it with his arm, Michael Harris II took Atlanta Braves to a victory against Washington nationals, 5-4, at Nationals Park.
Michael Harris II at first smashed a tiebreaking two-run homer to cap a 10-pitch at-bat and then threw a runner out at the plate. Harris II has proven to be a god-glove caliber center-fielder, all while slashing .283/.317/.491. Those are impressive numbers for a rookie, right?
“Unbelievable play in the outfield. My God,” Atlanta Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “It’s a game-changer obviously, but I didn’t think he had any chance. When he uncorked that thing, I was like, ‘Oh my Lord.’ It’s not like [García] can’t run either.”
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Michael Harris II up for Rookie of the Year contention, straight-away.
Michael Harris II connected on an Anibal Sánchez fastball up and out of the strike zone for his eighth home run of the season. “I knew he had already thrown everything except fastball up and in, so I was looking their dead red,” Harris said. “He gave it to me, and I turned on it.”
The right-center made it 4-2, unbelievably, but that wasn’t where Michael Harris II felt he is done. With one out in the bottom of the fifth, consecutive Washington singles put runners on first and second. Juan Soto lined a single to left-center, but Harris just went ultra-mode, fielded it on one bounce and fired home. The ball was fielded by Travis d’Arnaud just in time to get a sliding Luis García.
“I knew Soto hit it pretty hard, so I had a chance to get [García] at home, I got it and threw it as soon as I could, and I guess the rest is history.” Harris did not forget to credit the catcher for his role in the play.
“I feel like Travis did a good job of decking him. He didn’t show him that the ball was coming,” Harris said. “[García] didn’t think I was throwing it. Travis did a good job of decking him and putting the tag on him.”
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Yagya Bhargava
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