The North Port Report: Is This the Michael Harris Breakout Season?

Here's everything you need to know from Braves Spring Training in North Port, FL from Wednesday

Welcome to The North Port Report, your nightly notebook from Braves spring training. Each evening, we’ll run through the biggest developments from camp: roster battles, injury updates, standout performances, and the small details that matter more than they seem in February. The games may not count yet, but the information does.

Here’s what stood out today

Let’s start with the offense, as the Braves had the entire ‘A’ lineup in the game versus Pirates starter Paul Skenes.

In general, pitch recognition from the stars was top-tier today. The starters won four offensive ABS challenges, overturning strike calls, including three consecutive in the first inning. Matt Olson’s, which started the streak, was less than 1/10th of an inch from touching the strike zone, with both Jurickson Profar and Austin Riley also winning their own challenges. Ronald Acuña Jr. later won his own challenge in the 2nd inning and Drake Baldwin also successfully challenged a ball to get Tyler Kinley a strikeout in the third.

The Braves put up a three-spot in the 3rd inning after a Drake Baldwin leadoff triple (!), a Jurickson Profar RBI double, and an Austin Riley two-run homer to dead center that was 107.8 off the bat and traveled 419 feet.

On the pitching side, Bryce Elder had the quintessential Bryce Elder start - two hard-hit balls and a run in the first inning after he didn’t have his slider command early, followed by getting through the rest of the outing with no other hits allowed and three total strikeouts. He was followed by several MLB relievers, with Tyler Kinley, Dylan Lee, and Dylan Dodd all taking early innings. Hayden Harris and James Karinchak each got into the game late, with Harris striking out two (with three whiffs, two on the fastball) and Karinchak punching two tickets, but with one walk.

Quick Hits

• Former Atlanta DH Marcell Ozuna, batting third for Pittsburgh today, made the trip from Bradenton and beelined for Brian Snitker once the former Braves skipper hit the field during warmups.

• Bryce Elder gave an…interesting in-game interview. He discussed the usual topics - he feels good in his stuff, what happened in that first inning when he spiked some sliders, etc - before he was asked about the fifth starter’s battle. To paraphrase, he’s been battling for a roster spot “for the last three years”. I really hope this is the year he finally finds the missing consistency.

  • He put up a 50% quality start rate last year, including eight of his last 11 starts (4.04 ERA/3.51 FIP), but had 19 earned runs in the other three starts during that final stretch and a 5.30 ERA for the entire season.

• Carlos Carrasco will get the start on Thursday when the Braves head to George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa to take on the Yankees.

Roster Battle Tracker

Stock UP

James Karinchak. While his velocity wasn’t as crisp today (93.2 mph average 4S) as in his last outing (94.7), he maintained the 20 inches of induced vertical break he was flashing last time out and had a 39% CSW (called strikes plus whiffs). It feels more and more likely like he’s the favorite for that final bullpen spot.

Stock DOWN

Nacho Alvarez Jr. He was 0-2 today and is 1-7 with a double and a run scored on the spring slate, which isn’t the reason he’s in this section. Rather, the team’s used him only at third base, a sign that they don’t necessarily see him as part of the ‘final bench spot goes to a utilityman’ grouping along with Kyle Farmer, Aaron Schunk, Brett Wisely, etc. His reporting to Triple-A Gwinnett for more seasoning (and maybe some time at second base) in his final option year feels like the likely outcome here.

Observation of the Day

Michael Harris had another fantastic day at the plate. He ripped a 111.5 mph single, the hardest-hit ball of the game for either team, and added yet another walk to his tally.

And that matters.

Per the Braves Today discord, Michael Harris faced only 82 three-ball counts in all of 2025, finishing with 16 total walks (2.5% walk rate). He’s already seen four three-ball situations in six official at-bats and has walked twice.

If he can get back to the Rookie of the Year-caliber production and add in the ability to take a walk, then the sky’s the limit for the centerfielder. Chase has really been the massive weakness of his offensive game, but

Tomorrow’s watch list

Chadwick Tromp was lifted from his last game after being hit-by-a-pitch and hasn’t appeared since. Is he healthy and will he be behind the plate to catch Carlos Carrasco? And on the note of NRI starting pitching depth, when will Martín Perez be getting into a game?