The Braves will place Michael Harris II on the 10-day injured record tomorrow, supervisor Brian Snitker advised reporters (X hyperlink by way of Gabe Burns of the Atlanta Journal-Structure). Atlanta’s middle fielder got here up lame whereas working the bases in tonight’s win over the Rays. He left the sport with what the workforce known as left hamstring tightness.
Harris will go for an MRI on Saturday to find out the extent of the harm. It’s evidently critical sufficient for the Braves to rule Harris out for a minimum of 10 days earlier than the imaging. It appears doubtless he’ll be recognized with a pressure of some extent, although that’ll be clearer over the weekend.
The previous Rookie of the 12 months has began all 67 video games in middle subject. J.P. Martínez got here off the bench to deal with the place tonight, the primary time anybody apart from Harris has performed a single middle subject inning for Atlanta this 12 months. Harris hasn’t a fantastic third MLB season, handing over a .250/.295/.358 batting line by way of 278 journeys to the plate. He’d been an above-average hitter in every of his first two campaigns, rebounding from a sluggish begin final season with a large .325/.356/.522 exhibiting within the second half.
Even with Harris struggling on the plate, he’s a troublesome participant to switch. He’s an anchor within the outfield as one of many sport’s prime defensive middle fielders. The Braves don’t have a transparent choice to step into middle subject in his stead. Martínez will most likely get the primary crack at it, however he’s a 28-year-old rookie with 53 MLB plate appearances beneath his belt. Atlanta acquired the Cuban-born outfielder in a minor commerce with the Rangers over the winter. Martínez has spent the majority of the season at Triple-A Gwinnett, hitting .265/.337/.394 with a 25.8 p.c strikeout charge throughout 190 plate appearances.
Snitker didn’t announce who would exchange Harris on the roster. David O’Brien of the Athletic observes (on X) that Ramón Laureano was pulled halfway by way of tonight’s sport for Gwinnett. Laureano signed a minor league deal a few weeks in the past, shortly after he was launched by the Guardians. He has loads of middle subject expertise and will see some motion there, however he has primarily been a nook outfielder during the last three seasons.
Laureano didn’t hit in any respect for Cleveland early within the season. The appropriate-handed hitter fanned in 38.6 p.c of his plate appearances en path to a .143/.265/.229 slash line over 31 video games. Laureano has been on a tear in Gwinnett, carrying a .333/.403/.593 line with a trio of homers into tonight’s motion. Atlanta would wish so as to add him to the 40-man roster to deliver him up. That’s not a lot of a problem, because the Braves can transfer Spencer Strider to the 60-day injured record at any time when they should open a 40-man spot.
If Harris is out for an prolonged stretch, that might solely improve the urgency for the Braves to amass outfield assist on the deadline. That already regarded like a precedence as soon as Atlanta misplaced Ronald Acuña Jr. to a different ACL tear. They’ve been pressured to depend on each Adam Duvall and Jarred Kelenic as on a regular basis gamers (as a substitute of their deliberate left subject platoon) since Acuña went down.
