Harris edges Braves teammate Strider for NL ROY

The Atlanta Braves believed Michael Harris II had the quality to astatine slightest clasp his ain successful the majors aft impressing the beforehand bureau and coaching unit successful outpouring grooming successful some 2021 and '22.

At the minimum, they knew helium was the champion antiaircraft halfway fielder successful the organization, and with Braves halfway fielders hitting a corporate .186 done May 27 and the squad nether .500, they decided to rotation the dice.

The Braves called up the 21-year-old from Double-A adjacent though helium had played conscionable 43 games supra Class A. Harris rewarded the Braves' content with 1 of the champion rookie seasons successful franchise history, hitting .297/.339/.515 with 19 location runs and 20 stolen bases portion playing outstanding defense.

Harris bushed retired teammate Spencer Strider to triumph National League Rookie of the Year honors connected Monday, collecting 22 first-place votes and 134 points to Strider's 8 first-place votes and 103 points. St. Louis Cardinals inferior subordinate Brendan Donovan finished 3rd successful the voting.

Harris and Strider go conscionable the 4th brace of teammates to decorativeness 1-2 successful the voting since ranked balloting began successful 1980, joining the Braves' Craig Kimbrel and Freddie Freeman successful 2011, the Cubs' Jerome Walton and Dwight Smith successful 1989 and the Mariners' Alvin Davis and Mark Langston successful 1984.

Harris is the ninth subordinate successful Braves franchise past to triumph Rookie of the Year honors.

Harris was hitting .305 for Double-A Mississippi erstwhile the Braves called him up. Two days later, Strider made his archetypal commencement aft pitching retired of the bullpen to statesman the season. The Braves instantly took off, winning 15 successful a enactment from June 1 done June 15, with Harris hitting .370 successful that stretch. The Braves yet rallied from 10.5 games down the Mets successful precocious May to triumph their 5th consecutive NL East title.

"He's precise calm, and he's precise consistent," manager Brian Snitker said of Harris successful aboriginal September. "It's the full thing. He tin bushed you a batch of antithetic ways. With his glove, with his arm, with his legs, with his bat. That's beauteous bully qualities to person successful a subordinate that tin bash truthful overmuch to interaction the game."

Harris' all-around tools -- his Statcast measurements included a 92nd percentile ranking successful outs supra mean connected defense, a 95th percentile ranking successful sprint velocity and a 95th percentile successful limb spot -- helped him to a 5.3-WAR season, making him conscionable the 34th rookie presumption subordinate with 5.0 WAR since the divisional epoch began successful 1969.

He did it successful conscionable 114 games, the fewest of immoderate subordinate connected the list. The lone Rookies of the Year since 2010 with a higher WAR were Mike Trout, Jose Abreu, Aaron Judge and Pete Alonso.

In mid-August, the Braves rewarded Harris with an eight-year declaration hold worthy $72 cardinal that runs done 2030, with 2 nine enactment seasons that could marque it worthy $102 cardinal implicit 10 years. Not atrocious for a kid who grew up a Braves instrumentality successful Stockbridge, Ga., 35 miles southbound of Truist Park.

"Yeah, I decidedly ne'er thought astir the twelvemonth 2030," Harris said erstwhile helium signed the deal. "That's far. I'm conscionable gladsome to beryllium capable to enactment present successful Atlanta that long."

The Braves selected the hometown kid successful the 3rd circular of the 2018 draught -- erstwhile galore teams viewed Harris arsenic a pitcher. Braves scout Dana Brown, present the scouting director, saw an outfielder with powerfulness and speed. As Buster Olney wrote earlier this year, the Braves invited Harris to deed astatine Truist Park earlier the draft, and helium filled the outfield seats with location runs successful batting practice.

Harris told the Braves: "I americium a hitter."

Harris, however, hadn't deed for overmuch powerfulness successful the minors, slugging 7 location runs astatine Class A Rome successful 2021 and conscionable 5 successful those 43 games astatine Double-A. Upon joining the Braves, hitting manager Kevin Seitzer had Harris marque an adjustment, lowering his hands. Harris took to the alteration instantly and his powerfulness took off.

Harris spent his archetypal 3 months hitting astatine the bottommost of a beardown Atlanta lineup, but was hitting 3rd the last week of the play erstwhile the Braves swept the Mets successful a important bid to wrapper up the part title.

"As helium matures and helium becomes this subordinate we each cognize helium is, helium volition astir apt beryllium astatine that fig 2 oregon 3 spot for a agelong time," Snitker said adjacent the extremity of the season.

Strider besides had a singular season, going 11-5 with a 2.67 ERA and 202 strikeouts successful 131.2 innings. Strider became conscionable the 10th rookie since 1969 with 200 strikeouts and the archetypal since Yu Darvish successful 2012. His 13.81 strikeouts per 9 innings was the 2nd highest ever for a pitcher with astatine slightest 100 innings, down lone Gerrit Cole's 13.82 successful 2019.

"Everybody tries to pinpoint circumstantial checkpoints that they're trying to achieve," Strider said erstwhile reaching that 200-strikeout milestone. "I don't deliberation I was trying to onslaught retired 200 guys successful a season. That wasn't a extremity of mine. It was conscionable to triumph games, support america successful games, things that I tin power and person power over."

The voting whitethorn person been person if Strider hasn't missed the last two-plus weeks with an oblique strain. Strider besides received his ain fiscal reward erstwhile helium signed a six-year, $75 cardinal hold successful aboriginal October that includes a $22 cardinal nine enactment for 2029.

Harris and Strider volition besides person an other bonus via the pre-arbitration bonus excavation agreed to successful the caller labour deal: $750,000 for Harris and $500,000 for Strider.