Atlanta Braves fans on Michael Harris: "A superstar in the making", "H*ll yeah Money Mike let's get it!"

Atlanta Braves outfielder Michael Harris II was named the 2022 Jackie Robinson National League Rookie of the Year. He came out on top in a tight battle with fellow Braves rookie Spencer Strider and St. Louis Cardinals utility man Brandon Donovan.

Harris' feat deserves plenty of plaudits as he wasn't called up to the main roster until six weeks into the season. The electric outfielder made his debut on May 28 and hasn't looked back since.

Atlanta Braves fans have further reason to be excited as they have another outfield piece for the future in Harris to deploy next to Ronald Acuna Jr.

For a player that was playing in Double-A at the start of the season, Michael Harris has certainly made big strides. He has endeared himself to the Atlanta Braves faithful this year and will look to improve his game even further in 2023.

Michael Harris 2022 stats

In less than five months of regular-season play, Michael Harris compiled a respectable stat line that kept him in the conversation for rookie of the year.

Harris had a batting line of .297/.339/.514 with an OPS of .853. The young outfielder smashed 19 home runs and batted in 64 runs as well. He also finished the year as the leader in wins above replacement (per Baseball Reference) with 5.3.

The 21-year-old bagged four National League Rookie of the Month awards. He was just one home run shy of doing a 20/20 season for home runs and stolen bases that has only ever been accomplished by Chris Young in 2007.

Playing for his hometown team, Michael Harris etched his name as only the seventh Atlanta Brave to win the rookie of the year award. He followed in the footsteps of Ronald Acuna Jr., Craig Kimbrel, Rafael Furcal, David Justice, Bob Horner, and Earl Williams.

Harris' teammate Spencer Strider notably came in second in the race. As a result, the pair became just the fourth duo from the same team to finish 1-2 for the rookie of the year award since the inception of ranked voting in 1980.

Interestingly, the last occurrence of this rare feat in 2010 also featured two Atlanta Braves players when Craig Kimbrel got the nod over Freddie Freeman.

About the author

Daniel Santiago is a journalist who has been reporting on baseball at Sportskeeda since 2022. He was drawn towards the sport after the underlying statistics and the analysis surrounding it grabbed his attention.

Daniel particularly enjoys furnishing reports about historic events in baseball and analyzing the game through a statistic-based outlook, based on Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference. This is in line with how he enjoyed watching baseball as a pastime. As a writer, he is very particular about cross-checking from reputable sources and doing his due diligence.

He became a lifelong Hideki Matsui fan after his exploits in the 2009 World Series for the New York Yankees. Among the current generation, Daniel's favorites include Shohei Ohtani and Jung Hoo Lee. Daniel is a huge follower of Asian baseball and both Ohtani and Lee have been in the top echelon of their respective leagues during their time with the NPB and KBO.

His favorite moment as a baseball fan was the final at-bat of the 2023 World Baseball Classic between Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout. He believes there aren't many words to fittingly describe the intensity of the moment.

As an avid sports fan, Daniel watches other sports and Esports when not writing about baseball.

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