In late May, the defending World Series champion Atlanta Braves were fighting for their lives. They were under .500 and already far behind the New York Mets in the NL East. It was time to make some changes.
So on May 28 they called up 21-year-old center fielder Michael Harris II from Double-A Mississippi. It was an aggressive promotion: Harris had played just 43 games above Class A ball, but the Braves were desperate for help, as their center fielders Adam Duvall and Guillermo Heredia had combined to hit .186 with only two home runs so far. the moment. If nothing else, the Braves knew Harris could patrol center field and had liked what they’d seen of him during spring training.
Atlanta’s rotation was also struggling at the time, posting a combined 4.51 ERA. Then, just two days after Harris’ debut, another rookie — a right-hander Spencer Strider — made his first major league start. Strider had excelled in a multi-inning relief role, posting a 2.22 ERA in 24.1 innings, throwing as many as four innings in a single outing. As of 2021, Strider had struck out 153 batters in 94 minor league innings; it was time to see how his power translated into rotation.
The Braves began June 23-27, 10.5 games behind the Mets. With Harris and Strider in their new roles, they took off. The team went 78-34 the rest of the way, a half-game better than the Dodgers for the best record in the majors, and swept a three-game series against the Mets in the final week of the season to wrap up their fifth NBA title. consecutive division.
Many Braves members and fans would have predicted that another division title would come out of spring training. But even the most optimistic members of the front office wouldn’t have predicted the success of Harris and Strider, or the contracts the two would sign later in the season.