PODCAST: Michael Harris one of only five "two-way" centerfielders in 2022
It's incredibly tough to play an above-average defensive centerfield. It's even tougher to do that and perform at an above-average level at the plate.
There's a reason the Atlanta Braves locked up NL Rookie of the Year Michael Harris II to an eight year, seventy-two million dollar extension within months of his debut in the majors: He's one of the few players that can do both.
Debuting on May 28th against the Miami Marlins, Harris went on to be the NL Rookie of the Year after hitting .297/.339/.514 with 19 homeruns and 20 stolen bases while also contributing 1.3 dWar in the outfield.
He's one of only five outfielders that managed to put forth both an OPS+ over 100 and a positive dWAR (Harris was at 135 OPS+ in 2022), earning the designation of a "two-way" centerfielder.
| Player | OPS+ | dWAR |
|---|---|---|
Mike Trout | 178 | 0.3 |
Julio Rodriguez | 147 | 0.7 |
Michael Harris | 135 | 1.3 |
Brandon Nimmo | 130 | 0.2 |
Cedric Mullins | 104 | 1.0 |
On the Friday episode of "Locked On MLB Prospects", host Lindsay Crosby discussed the season for all five of those players, as well as factors that attributed to the decline of the "two-way" centerfielder since 2004's high of ten such qualified players.
Of particular interest was the discussion about workload - The Atlanta Braves are mentioned, for their usage of Adam Duvall in centerfield instead of Ronald Acuña Jr, and how Duvall's offensive numbers improved once he moved to left field after the promotion of Harris.
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