Austin Riley Proving to Be Braves' Next Second-Half Comeback Story

Wednesday featured Austin Riley teasing a chance at history. The Atlanta Braves' third baseman fell just short of hitting for the cycle with a home run, a double and a single. In his last at-bat, he took a pitch deep that would have been at least a double had it dropped.

When that opportunity arrives, the expectation is that you push for third base just to try and go down trying to get the cycle. However, Riley wasn't so sure that would have been the case.

"Probably not - just go coasting in to second, take my double," he said after taking a second to think about it after being asked.

Had he gotten a triple, he would have been the first Braves player to achieve the feat since Eddie Rosario on Sept. 19, 2021. In the majors, he would have been the first in about a month to do so.

Either way, the fact that he had a chance to make it happen shows that he's come a long way and is rediscovering his old form. It's been discussed before. If others can have a second-half comeback, why not Austin Riley?

So far, he's making his case that that's indeed what's coming together.

In 25 games since the All-Star Break, he's batting .292 with an .891 OPS, six home runs and 16 RBIs. That's a full-season pace for 38 home runs and 108 RBIs. That puts him in rage of his All-Star self, who received top-six finishes in the National League MVP vote.

By now, the sample size had become the strongest one yet. It's not a good week. It's not a good homestand or road trip. He's assemble a strong month of play.

"This has been going on now for a little while," manager Walt Weiss said. "This isn't one of them short spurts. I think it's good to see that he hit some balls hard, and so, that's immense. That's huge for us."

Riley hasn't been grinding it out. That's been emphasized regardless of where the results at the plate have been. It's been nearly a three-year journey now to get back to where he was.

"Just trying to simply things," Riley said after Wednesday's game. "This game will beat you up, and you can overcomplicate things real quick, and things will spiral really, really fast. Like I said, just getting back to the basics."

He added that he felt the job wasn't done. There is still work to be done, but he felt like results from his work in the cages were starting to carry over to the live games.

It hasn't been all pretty since the second half started. He notably needed a night off recently, but it's looking like it was a chess move that allowed him to get back on track quickly.

Six weeks remain in the season. There are some ebbs and flows ahead. A few tough days may see some write him off as usual, but it's about the larger body of work. As long as it keeps growing in a positive way, he'll be fine.

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