New Balance surprise Braves star Michael Harris II with unexpected pre-birthday gift

CF Michael Harris, IINL rookie of the year in his debut season with the Atlanta Braves in 2022, received an unexpected surprise before his 23rd birthday from New Balance, a sports apparel and footwear giant.

Harris celebrated his birthday on Mar. 7, when the Georgian native received a gift hamper from NB consisting of some amazing new cleats and sneakers.

Screenshot of Michael Harris II's story reposted on New Balance's official baseball Instagram account

From the story, it's observable that Michael Harris, who has a knack for wearing bold design cleats and sneakers, received four of the same design with slight color variations.

He sported a dark blue and black combination, a yellow and black combination, a green and white combination, and a light blue with hints of dark blue color.

After being selected by the Atlanta Braves in the third round of the 2019 MLB draft, Harris rose through the A, AA, and AAA minor league teams to make his big league debut in 2022.

Before his selection by Atlanta, he was recruited solely as a pitcher by the LSU Tigers and had even committed to collegiate play with the Texas Tech Red Raiders.

However, he ended up signing a $548,000 bonus with the Braves to take his talents directly into the big leagues.

Michael Harris got off to a flying start to spring training, blasting a home run and going 2-3 in his maiden outing against the Tampa Bay Rays.

He blasted his second in his second Grapefruit League outing against the Phillies but went hitless on Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Nevertheless. he has set the tone and made his intentions clear for the upcoming season.

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Michael Harris II focusing on positives from his 2023 slump with the Braves

After 980 plate appearances, Michael Harris II is up to .295 BA with 37 home runs and a 123 OPS+.

He's one of 15 players to make that many plate appearances at age 22 or younger and posting an OPS+ of 120 or higher since 2000..

Since the Braves promoted him from Double-A Mississippi in May 2022, Harris has been a vital component of Atlanta's success.

When Michael Harris II collided with the St. Louis outfield wall in April 2023, he damaged his back and went on the injured list. He subsequently hurt his back lifting weights, which caused a delay in his return.

"I’m actually glad I did what I did last year," he said. "I got to learn from it, and then I got back on track. So now I know what works for me, and when everything is going wrong, what to look for and what to change.

"What I didn’t do right and knowing what I can do when I’m doing the right things can help take me pretty far this season."

Since returning from injury, Harris has been unstoppable, smashing 16 home runs with a batting average of.335 in his last 100 games with the Braves.

That boosted Atlanta's quests towards the NLCS spot, which was cut short two years in a row by the Phillies last year.

Harris will hope to carry the positive momentum from the end of last year and this year's spring training into the 2024 MLB season.