Braves Not Rushing Riley Back, Trade DFA'd Outfielder to Rays

The Atlanta Braves feel there is no need to rush the recovery of their All-Star third baseman. Meanwhile, they flip an outfielder to Tampa Bay

The Braves feel it's best to take their time with their third baseman | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

The Atlanta Braves are going to take their time with All-Star third baseman Austin Riley. According to MLB.com’s Mark Bowman, they won’t be activating him on Tuesday, the first day he’s eligible to come off the 10-day injured list. He might come back on Friday.

Meanwhile, the fate of Stuart Fairchild has been decided. The Braves announced that they traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays for cash considerations. Fairchild had been designated for assignment on Monday to make room for catcher Sandy León on the 40-man roster so they could promote him to the Majors. 

Manager Snitker said Monday night after the game that Riley was looking good and it came down to seeing how he felt. 

Ahead of the game against the Giants on Monday, Snitker said a big test would be seeing how Riley looked in the field. He sustained his injury when fielding a slow roller in the opening game of their series with the Cardinals on July 11. 

Riley is batting .274 with a .764 OPS, 14 home runs and 48 RBIs in 93 games this season. It’s been an up-and-down year for him, but he’s still one of the more important bats to be absent from the lineup. 

It’s easier to wait and see how he’s feeling when their infielder prospect, Nacho Alvarez Jr., has been playing well since he was called up. His bat has been below-average. He’s batting .227 with a .565 OPS, albeit it is an improvement from his first stint in the majors last season. However, he’s made some nice plays in the field. 

All in all, given the injury that he has, Riley will still be back in a short amount of time if he returns Friday. 

Fairchild was acquired by the Braves in the wake of Jurickson Profar being suspended for a positive test for use of performance-enhancing drugs. He primarily served as depth in the outfield and as a pinch runner. 

In 26 games, he batted .216 with a .606 OPS, no home runs and two RBIs. Since Profar’s return, they have now moved on from two outfielders, including Alex Verdugo. Eli White gets to stick around as a high-quality fourth outfielder.