Braves Austin Riley Showing Signs of Heating Up

He's still missed a few opportunities he'd want back, but the Atlanta Braves third baseman has looked much better at the plate

Riley is undoubtly starting to have his moments | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley is starting to find his stroke, and he’s finding it in some clutch spots. For the second night in a row, he’s changed the tide of the game in the late innings, at least for a moment. 

In Wednesday night’s 4-3 against the Philadelphia Phillies, Riley hit a mammoth solo home run to left field to tie the game 3-3 in the bottom of the seventh. 

He followed that up in the bottom of the ninth with a base hit that gave the Braves runners at the corners. 

Riley’s night wasn’t perfect - far from it. He missed two opportunities with the bases loaded. But he’s getting here.

“He showed some signs of life tonight with the homer,” manager Brian Snitker said. “Just got to keep wanting to be in that moment.”

On Tuesday, he hit a go-ahead double to put the Braves up 6-5 en route to a 7-5 win to open the series. 

Perhaps starting to have moments while still missing others makes him an embodiment of the Braves season. 

These moments follow a trend that dates back to when he called out his slow start after the 6-5 loss in the finale of the Dodgers series. 

During the Braves' 0-7 start to the season, Riley batted .111 with a .533 OPS and a solo home run. He was left so frustrated at the plate that he called himself out in a postgame interview. 

“From a personal standpoint, it’s honestly embarrassing what I’ve displayed offensively,” Riley said, via MLB.com's Mark Bowman. “I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s embarrassing.”

Since then, he’s batting .333 with a home run and four RBIs. He’s had three extra-base hits in total during this stretch. His batting average has nearly doubled, and his slugging is up nearly 150 points. 

With the roll he’s starting to get on, those big moments are only going to start to accumulate.

The Braves face the Phillies on Thursday (insert scenario). First pitch is set for 7:15 p.m.