Atlanta Braves: 5 key factors to first half success in 2019
By James Kunkle
3. Austin Riley proving he is the real deal
May 15th was the day Austin Riley got called up and replaced Ender Inciarte who went on the IL. Inciarte was struggling and Riley wasted no time showing off his raw power. He homered in his first game and hasn’t slowed since, at least home run wise.
His arrival made the lineup longer and scarier as well as the Braves had a 1-8 that had no easy outs and nowhere to go to get an easy out.
This isn’t even to mention that he has played a solid left field despite being relatively new to that position.
His bat has come down to earth some, but he is still providing timely hits and clutch at-bats. His numbers rise when it is a more crucial part of the game.
Besides, while some may be starting to write off Riley as a flash in the pan, let’s not forget that he is still indeed a rookie.
I don’t think it is a huge coincidence that the Braves are 33-16 since he was called up. He became a spark plug that made this team find its offensive stride.
So far Riley has had 202 Plate appearances and he already has 16 Home Runs and 41 RBI’s. If you give him a 600 PA season, that’s 48 long balls and 123 RBI’s. I will gladly take that even with a .257 batting average.