Michael Harris II shared what he believes has been the root cause of the Atlanta Braves' offensive skid after their 4-1 Saturday loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.
For one of the best teams in MLB on paper, the Atlanta Braves have not lived up their 75-55 overall record on the field from an offensive standpoint.
Going into their series against the Milwaukee Brewers, the team suffered a three-game sweep earlier in the week by the Minnesota Twins and was held to a single run on Tuesday when Drake Baldwin launched a solo home run in the sixth that spoiled a potential shutout.
Even as the Braves bounced back with a 2-0 shutout win over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday, their troubles at the plate resurfaced this weekend when the team's lineup failed to muster more than one run in each of their last two games against the Brewers.
Following Saturday's matchup in which Atlanta lost 4-1, Michael Harris II shared with the media what he believes has been the culprit behind the Braves' struggles.
"We faced some tough pitching lately, and that’s kind of what’s gonna happen in a playoff-like game," Harris said, according to MLB.com. "So, I think it’s good for us to get that right now and make some changes."
Harris' point was evident when Atlanta opened the series on Friday against Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski who tossed six scoreless innings to eventually hand the Braves a 2-1 loss.
That loss would also squander another dominant outing from 10-year All-Star Chris Sale who matched Misiorowski's six strikeouts on the night.
Saturday was about the same when right-hander Logan Henderson struck out four Braves despite allowing five hits and two walks through six innings of work. Harris drove in Baldwin for Atlanta’s lone run of the game with an RBI double in the first.
Still, Harris did not shy away from the Braves' shortcomings, emphasizing the team's need to keep tabs on the rest of the league and adapt to whatever strategies opposing ball clubs may have in place to stop them.
"Just sticking to our plan, trying to execute the game plan we go into the game with, and adjust accordingly throughout the game," he said. "Pitchers are gonna make adjustments to us, and we have to adjust back."
In addition to Milwaukee, the Braves also had their work cut out against the Arizona Diamondbacks the weekend prior, dropping two out of three games and only earning a win on Sunday when Matt Olson caught lightning in a bottle with a three-run blast during the seventh.
While Atlanta has a bona fide rotation in Sale, Bryce Elder, AJ Smith-Shawver, Martín Pérez and Grant Holmes, figuring things out at the dish is a must for the team to return to World Series prominence for the first time since 2021.
The Braves will look to salvage the series against Milwaukee tonight in the MLB Little League Classic at 7:10 p.m. EDT as right-hander Tyler Mahle takes the mound versus Shane Drohan.
