ATLANTA -- Braves center fielder Michael Harris II was left out of Saturday’s lineup because of lingering back discomfort.
“He’s still feeling it a little bit, so I just took it out of his hands and kept him down for today,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “It’s nothing serious, just more precautionary.”
Harris felt some back tightness before he was removed to begin the ninth inning of Friday night’s 6-3 win over the Pirates. There’s a chance he could be used Saturday if necessary.
“He’ll get treatment throughout the game, and then we'll make that decision, probably during the game,” Weiss said.
Harris is hitting .303 with 13 home runs and an .854 OPS. He was replaced in center field by Mauricio Dubón, who entered Saturday bidding to homer in a fourth straight game.
With Dubón moving to center field, Weiss had an opportunity to utilize Ha-Seong Kim as his shortstop. Kim has recorded just five hits in 49 at-bats this year. This marked just the third time in the past nine games he was in the starting lineup.