Michael Harris II credits Phillies fans for his hot start to 2024

Michael Harris II is sawry not sawry for what he has done at the plate vs. the Philadelphia Phillies in the first two games of their Opening Day series. The Atlanta Braves won the first two on the road at Citizens Bank Park. An eighth-inning meltdown by the Phillies bullpen on Friday afternoon led to Atlanta winning Game 1, 9-3. As the weather indicated, Atlanta poured it on in Game 2 Saturday, 12-4.

On the year, Harris is 6-for-9 at the plate, slashing .667/.700/1.111 in 10 plate appearances. He has scored five times, plated two runs and hit an absolute moonshot in the top of the ninth on Saturday evening. His 3-for-4 day helped propel the Braves to another crushing victory over their hated NL East nemesis Philadelphia. Atlanta has struggled against the Phillies in the playoffs, but this is March.

Atlanta has a chance to complete a truly impressive three-game road sweep to start the year on the road at Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon. It will be Chris Sale's Braves debut, going up against Ranger Suarez. While Spencer Strider pitched well on Opening Day, Max Fried struggled in his first start of the year on Saturday. All the while, Harris and company have been blistering hot at the plate.

As if you needed more proof of this, Money Mike loves cashing big checks at the Bank in Philadelphia.

It will be interesting to see if Harris' hot start to 2024 continues well into the first third of the season.

Michael Harris II is sawry not sawry for cashing checks at The Bank, bruh!

Of the many things to be jazzed about when it comes to the Braves' first two games of the season, seeing Harris rake at the plate like this has to be near the top. The 2023 NL Rookie of the Year struggled mightily in the first half of last season. He succumbed to a gnarly back injury fairly early into the campaign. While he got back to great during the dog days, that first half still lingers in our minds...

To Braves Country, it is not just that Harris is young, fantastic and under a long-term contract; he is one of us. The Stockbridge native grew up idolizing Andruw Jones in centerfield. Now he gets to do what he loves at the same position that should get No. 25 into the Hall of Fame at some point in the next year or so. More importantly, Harris' production in the back half of the batting order is crucial.

In a way, he is kind of like another Ronald Acuña Jr. in the lineup. His job is to get on base, wreak havoc on the base paths, hit the ball well over the fence and make great plays in the outfield. Just when you think you can catch a break with this lineup general manager Alex Anthopoulos has magnificently constructed, you have to pitch to guys like Harris who can absolutely rake. It is good to be the Braves.

As long as Atlanta keeps winning series after series, everything else will fall into place for this team.