Braves Michael Harris II Ranked Highly Among Center Fielders

The Atlanta Braves center fielder is once again viewed at one of the top players at his position

Michael Harris II continues to be a top player at his position / Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Harris II continues to hold a high standing among center fielders. 

MLB Network released their top-10 center fielders based on a fan vote, and Harris was ranked third on the list. He finished behind 2024 National League Rookie of the Year Jackson Merrill and the generational talent, Mike Trout. 

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Since this is from a fan vote on social media, there really isn’t a criterion for how this list was created. But it shows his standing in the baseball world. 

Harris has been standing out as a potential All-Star since he arrived in the league, receiving National League Rookie of the Year honors in 2022. While he had a down year overall in a 2024 season that saw him miss time due to injury, we got a flash of what could be coming at the end. 

In September, Harris slashed .316/.344/.579 with eight home runs and 18 RBIs. To put it into greater perspective, that’s a 162-game pace of 50 home runs and 112 RBIs.

Overall, he has the offensive track record to be a top center fielder in the game. Defensively, he’s very worthy of being near the top of the list. In the traditional stats, he has a .991 fielding percentage and committed just two errors in 11o games. He is tied for the third-fewest errors among center fielders. 

According to the advanced stats, he has the fourth-best ultimate zone rating (7.0) and is tied for the second-best defensive runs saved (11). 

This fan vote isn’t too far off from where he was ranked by “The Shredder” on MLB Network ahead of the 2024 season. In that top 10, he was ranked fifth. 

According to MLB Network, this ranking was “based on past player performance, a number of offensive and defensive metrics, both advanced data and traditional numbers, and analysis by the MLB Network research team.” 

The fan vote probably includes the eye test a bit more. They see the highlights online and that influences decision-making that “The Shedder” doesn’t include. The Shredder has yet to be released for 2025, so we’ll have to wait to find out how much that lines up with the fan vote.