Return to Form May Have Finally Arrived for Braves Austin Riley

The month of May has been good to Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley, seeing him have an awaited sustained stretch at the plate

Riley is showing sustained success for the Braves as of late | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Austin Riley helped set the stage for another Atlanta Braves win. He went 2-for-4 with two extra-base hits, including a three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning against the Boston Red Sox. With the win on Sunday, the Braves took yet another series.

Each ball he put in place came scorching off the bat, each one with an exit velocity of over 101 mph. The home run reached 104 mph. 

Some things had to go his way to make the big hits happen. Michael Harris II had to beat out a throw to first to avoid a double play in the first inning. Riley then had to successfully challenge a strike called at the knees that would have sat him down. But when he got the moments, he capitalized. 

“It’s nice to see him coming around,” Grant Holmes said after the game. “Starting to put some cruise on the ball. I full-heartedly believe in him being who he is.” 

Through 15 games, he’s batting .286 with an .852 OPS, four home runs and 11 RBIs. It’s not the monster run he was in the first few games of May, but it’s not far off from his All-Star averages. He’s arguably reached an equilibrium - something more sustainable. 

Last week, it was determined that the verdict was still out. We had seen things click briefly for him in early April, but it only lasted a few games. This time around, it’s a sample size of 15 games. It’s a solid trend now.

“There’s been spurts here and there, but he’s going to start stringing it together, and he’s going to take off,” manager Walt Weiss said.

He’s hitting the ball hard, whether he’s pulling the ball or hitting it to opposite field. Anything to right center is the most encouraging, knowing his track record. When a right-handed hitter is clicking, you’re going to see some hard shots to that part of the field.

Some of the metrics are starting to creep up as he trends in the right direction. According to Baseball Savant, he’s now in the 74th percentile for exit velocity (90.8 mph), 66th percentile in barrel rate (9.8%) and in the 70th percentile in hard-hit rate (44.7%). 

For good measure, his baserunning value is up to the 87th percentile. 

Most of these metrics are still all on the low end for him. Normally, he would have been in the 90th percentile or higher for these metrics, but he’s heading in the right direction. We’re seeing what a healthier Riley can do.

On the counting stats side, he’s now on pace for 24 home runs and 96 RBIs. Those are higher if you look at just May, but heading into the month, he was on pace for 15 home runs and 86 RBIs. We’ll see where his pace is come the start of June.

For now, the Braves will take what they're getting. They haven't see this version of him in some time, and the hope is this version of him can continue to stick around.

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