The Braves’ offense had a quiet showing in the club’s 6-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on opening day Thursday night, but the performance of third baseman Austin Riley gave reason for April optimism.
Coming off a season in which he led the Braves in batting average, home runs and RBIs, Riley continued to show why he is one of the more feared members of the lineup. He provided the bulk of the offense’s production by notching three of the Braves’ four hits, including a two-run homer in the eighth inning.
“That’s huge,” Riley said Friday of his return to Truist Park. “The fans were awesome, just to be back at this park. I like hitting at this park, see the ball well and to kind of get your feet wet, it’s nice.”
A first-round pick in 2015, Riley broke into the majors in 2019 but had a limited impact at the plate in his first two seasons. He took his game to another level in 2021, demonstrating both his contact and power skills with a .303 batting average and 33 home runs and finishing seventh in National League MVP voting.
His defensive improvement was just as impressive. Riley ranked fifth in the majors and first among third basemen in FanGraphs’ defensive runs saved metric (13).
Manager Brian Snitker views Riley’s confidence as the biggest difference in his play.
“Confidence as much as anything, feeling that he knows he can do it and he belongs here,” Snitker said. “The struggles that he’s had haven’t been easy, and the guy is maturing, and confidence is probably the biggest thing.”
Despite the success, the Memphis, Tenn., native is motivated to improve further as the 2022 season gets started. Riley points to his high strikeout numbers (168 in 2021, ranking fourth in the NL) and walk rate as areas of focus on offense, while he is looking cut down on compounding errors and maintain consistency in the field.
Third base coach Ron Washington sees Riley’s decisiveness, a crucial aspect of the hot corner position, as something that could elevate his defensive play.
“He’s got darn good reactions, but we’ve been working on making better decisions,” Washington said. “That’s all. Once he cleans up the decision-making, which he has – and it’s going to continue to get better – there’s no telling where he’s going, man.”
A major challenge to continuing his upward trajectory -- this winter’s lockout and condensed spring training. Riley credits the coaching staff with balancing the hitters’ workload during the unique spring schedule.
“I felt good, even with the shortened spring,” Riley said. “I feel like our coaching staff and (Snitker) did a good job of the days we weren’t playing, we were getting five to nine at-bats, whether it was live (at-bats), back fields, whatever.”
Of course, any mention of Riley’s success in 2021 also has to include his contributions to the Braves’ World Series title and his eight hits against the Houston Astros.
On the weekend celebrating the title, he has made returning to the top his primary objective.
“You’re always looking for that next goal,” Riley said. “It’s been a while since it’s last been done, but you try to repeat. It’s the reason why we play this game is to try to win the World Series.”
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