Braves’ Michael Harris Rebounds After “Ugly” First Half; Why 2025 Slump is Seen as an Outlier.vc
ATLANTA — In what can only be described as a “dumpster fire” of a 2025 season for the Atlanta Braves, one of the biggest question marks was the performance of outfielder Michael Harris.
For much of the year, the veteran was one of the league’s worst hitters. By the MLB All-Star break, Harris was managing only a .210 batting average, putting together some of the ugliest at-bats fans have had to endure.
Despite the painful performance, there was reason for hope based on the outfielder’s solid career. Everything about the deep struggles screamed “outlier.”
That hope set the stage for a significant comeback in the second half of the season, leaving little reason for angst heading into 2026.
A Tale of Two Halves
After the All-Star break, Harris completely turned things around at the plate. From July 18 until the end of the season, he posted a .299 batting average, and his bat only seemed to grow hotter as the season progressed.
This strong finish makes it clear that the misery of the first half was an anomaly that can likely be written off as the worst stretch of his career. With three previous seasons of solid production, the expectation is that 2026 will bring a return to a higher level of consistency.
Why the Braves Can’t Give Up on Harris
Harris remains an incredibly important piece of Atlanta’s core and should not be discounted based on a few bad months. The outfielder is a career .274 hitter who also plays an elite brand of defense. Because of his glove, Atlanta needs very little offensive production from Harris to justify his spot in the lineup.
While there would be reason for alarm if the struggles were to shockingly reappear in the first weeks of the 2026 season, this seems incredibly unlikely based on the impressive resume Harris has built.
Offseason Outlook: Depth, Not Replacement
For the Atlanta front office, the focus must be on finding a fourth outfielder that the franchise can rely on as a depth option. There is no cause for concern or reason to believe that finding a new starting outfielder needs to be among the Braves’ offseason priorities.
The outfield appears to be one of the few position groups in great shape heading into a pivotal offseason.
Braves fans should feel confident that the player Harris was in the second half of 2025 will be the norm moving forward. It would be truly shocking to see anything close to that level of struggle again from a franchise player who simply picked an awful time to have the worst season of his career.
