Braves rookie outfielder Michael Harris II has only be in the big leagues for a couple months, and he’s already showing baseball wisdom well beyond his years. That was on display during Tuesday night’s game between the Braves and Red Sox.
Ronald Acuña Jr. wowed the baseball world with his phenomenal slide into home plate in the 11th inning to give the Braves a two-run lead. Acuña was able to evade the tag from Kevin Plawecki by sneaking a hand in on the opposite side of the plate despite the throw beating him. And real time, it simply looked like an incredible individual effort from one of baseball’s most gifted players.
Can’t Touch This – @ronaldacunajr24 pic.twitter.com/Kd4LO90eTK
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 10, 2022
But even Acuña would admit that there was much more to the slide. Just look at Harris who became a player-coach on the play, standing in Acuña’s sight line to direct him exactly where to slide. After the game, Acuña credited Harris II for pointing to that inside portion of the plate because, after all, Harris could see the direction the ball was coming in while Acuña could not.
"I was just keeping my eyes on Michael Harris and seeing where he was pointing me to. I just kind of followed his lead on that."@ronaldacunajr24 credited @MoneyyyMikeee for the GPS instructions on that 11th-inning slide. pic.twitter.com/ll0WxlW47A
— Bally Sports: Braves (@BravesOnBally) August 10, 2022
You don’t see that situational awareness from too many rookies, and it was what made that highlight-reel play possible. Plenty of fans noticed it too.