Braves' Austin Riley's Stock Drop Further Reflected in Lastest Top-10

The Atlanta Braves third baseman managed to stick around the top-10 players at his position, but he saw another dip in his standing

Riley's injury-filled 2025 season carries a lot of weight | Peter Aiken-Imagn Images

Austin Riley saw his stock take another hit ahead of the 2026 season. According to MLB Network, the Atlanta Braves third baseman ranked just the No. 10 third baseman in the game. It's a drop off from being fifth in the game the year before. Just the year before that, "The Shredder" had been ranked as the top player at his position.

"Once one of the top stars of the sport, Riley has had a rough two years, dealing with injuries," MLB Network analyst Brian Kenny said.

Austin Riley is the No. 10 third baseman on @MLBNow's #Top10RightNow. pic.twitter.com/wIvGlrUS9Z

— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) February 5, 2026

He also highlighted that Riley has barely played over 100 games in each of those two seasons and hitting has "fallen to league average." Kenny ends his chat Riley by wondering if Riley can reclaim his prime performance.

As noted in the MLB Network rundown of Riley's placing, according to "The Shedder," he was an MVP candidate for three-straight seasons from 2021 to 2023. He had at least a 6.0 WAR in all three of those seasons and played at least 159 games.

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Riley has seen his stock fall off across multiple rankings. Before the top-100 list from MLB Network began its countdown, they noted that the third baseman was absent from the list entirely. Some analysts disagreed with that, but "The Shedder," which puts weight on the previous two seasons and doesn't take what someone is capable of into account, thought otherwise.

The Braves could use the version of Riley that has a return to form. He had surgery to repair his abdomen toward the end of last season, forcing his season to yet again end prematurely. He was less than a year removed from his fractured hand that was sustained on a hit by pitch in August 2024.

A lot just hasn't gone his way, and it's hard to find consistency when you're nursing ailments and are unable to stay on the field. Now, that he's healthy, we await to see if he can do it.

FanGraphs projects that Riley will be healthier, and therefore see an improvement in his counting stats. However, There isn't much benefit of the doubt elsewhere. He's projected to bat .260 with a .785 OPS, 26 home runs and 77 RBIs, based on the Steamer projection.

A healthier year would certainly give him a boost in his stock again. However, he's going to have to show that he can turn the jets on again if he wants to truly be considered a top player at his position. Let's be real, Riley made the top 10 because there still aren't 10 third basemen better than him.

It takes solid performance to actually leap frog who you're ahead of by default. He's more than capable of it. Sometimes, they're looking for an excuse to rank a player higher. With his long contract, he's not going anywhere any time soon. He's going to get the chance to bounce back, whether or not some actually think he can.