Braves Seeing More Production Lately From Two Key Stars

En route to the Atlanta Braves finishing their west coast road trip with a winning record, Austin Riley and Ronald Acuña Jr. had days that had become expected from them. Saying that they've broken their early-season slumps would be jumping the gun, but it's still a breath of fresh air amid these frustrating starts.

Here's a breakdown of how the two stars have fared over the recent handful of games. Along with the stats, we'll look at how they played a role in the games in which they delivered.

Austin Riley

The early going of the 2026 season has been as troubling as it could be for the Braves' third baseman. A lot of hitless nights and weaker contact that most could stomach. In a 10-game stretch between opening day and Saturday's win against the Angels, he batted .088 with a .302 OPS.

After a promising spring and first game, where he tallied three hits, it's understandably disheartening to see Riley have the struggles that he's had. On the flip side, it makes the recent couple of games a sight for sore eyes.

In the two wins out in Anaheim, he went 3-for-8 (.375) with a pair of walks, an RBI and an extra-base hit. For good measure, he even swiped his first bag of the season. He played a key role in the Braves' throttling the Angels in back-to-back games over the weekend to take the series. The team scored 15 runs combined between Saturday and Sunday. Riley factored into five (one-third) of them.

It's certainly a confidence booster, and the Braves would certainly welcome it if this put some wind in Riley's sails and sparked a serious streak.

Ronald Acuña Jr.

Acuña isn't putting up All-Star numbers quite yet, but he's showing signs of turning the corner. In his last four games, he's batting .278 with a .705 OPS and two runs scored.

Keep in mind that it is in comparison to the .161 batting average and .501 OPS that he had over his first nine games. Any improvement only helps the team. He's the cornerstone star player of this team. More than this is still expected of him, and he's going to get there. For now, the progress is promising.

The Braves have Thursday off, but they start a homestand on Friday with a series against the Cleveland Guardians. Both Riley and Acuña have the chance to build momentum with the comfort of playing in front of their fans.