While the Braves celebrated their fourth consecutive division title on the Truist Park field Thursday, second baseman Ozzie Albies endorsed one of his teammates as the most valuable player in the National League.
Albies said third baseman Austin Riley should be the NL MVP. Riley had a home run in the team’s 5-3 division-clinching win over the Phillies, which is just another achievement in his breakout campaign.
“He has grown and evolved into an All-Star player,” Albies said. “He’s amazing. He’s grown into (a patient hitter). He’s doing everything he can do to drive in runs.”
Riley’s MVP case includes a .303/.368/.899 slash line with 33 homers and 105 RBIs for the division-winning Braves. He’s producing at a time the two NL MVP favorites, San Diego’s Fernando Tatis and Philadelphia’s Bryce Harper, have seen their teams mathematically eliminated by the Braves over the past week.
Regardless of individual accolades, Riley will try to help his Braves make another deep October run beginning next week, when the Braves begin the NL Division Series in Milwaukee on Oct. 8.
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