Hayden Harris is now a big leaguer. Who’s the next Hayden Harris? I don’t mean, who’s the next undrafted free agent to make the big leagues for the Braves. I don’t mean, who’s the next former Savannah Banana to make the big leagues for the Braves, either.
What I mean is, who is the next guy whose promotion will be long clamored-for before it occurs (if ever)?
I don’t know if I have many names in my mind comparable to that of Harris with regard to how long people have wanted him promoted, and how long it took
to get there. But I have a few, who are also linked together.
In 2018, the Braves had a guy in their system named Michael Reed, whom they signed as a minor league free agent. To that point, Reed had largely struggled in Triple-A and in a few PAs in the majors, but was killing Double-A. With the Braves, he obliterated both Double-A and Triple-A, and was ultimately called up by the Braves… but only got seven PAs. He had a .391 xwOBA in those seven PAs but just a .251 wOBA; he went back to the minors, was eventually shelved with a back strain, bounced around, and hasn’t been in pro ball since 2019. There’s a story there, but I don’t know what it is. But, the point is — the fever pitch to promote Reed in 2018 when he was absolutely raking in the minors was quite something.
At roughly the same time, Evan Phillips, a 17th-round pick by the Braves, was dominating Triple-A as a reliever. Phillips didn’t have a track record of dominating, but everyone always wants the reliever with good minors added to the big league club to replace one of a handful of major league relievers that are not having a good season. The Braves did call him up at roughly the same time as they promoted Reed, but Phillips was awful in four games, and ended up going to Baltimore in the Kevin Gausman deal. He was also awful there, and unremarkable for them in 2020. Even in 2021, as he bounced around multiple other teams, he didn’t appear to be much of anything… until a full offseason and season with the Dodgers in 2022 developed him into a dominant big league reliever.
Anyway, memory lane aside, who ya got to replace Hayden Harris in the hearts and minds of Braves fans?
