The fact that the Braves went out and signed Jake Lamb to a Major League deal tells you that the leash on Riley to figure it out in 2021 will be short.
I did a radio spot on an ESPN station last week and talk about this very fact. With how competitive the NL East is going to be, Brian Snitker doesn’t have a lot of time for guys to ‘figure it out’ this year.
If Riley doesn’t come out of the gate showing a much-improved approach at the plate and isn’t regularly putting together good at-bats, then it’s next man up.
And right now that next man is Jake Lamb, although his at-bats in Spring Training have looked awful as of late.
But he’s somebody who was an All-Star with the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2017 and finished the 2020 season well with the Athletics. He’s trying to regain some value before hitting the free-agent market again — and the Braves have had success with those guys.
And then, or course, there is Johan Camargo, Ehire Adrianza, and Pablo Sandoval.
I really like what I’ve seen from Adrianza in Spring Training. He won’t give you the power of a prototypical third baseman, but at least you know he’ll give you a good at-bat each time up.
Again, while the Braves certainly want Riley to prove he’s the answer at third base, they’ve put plenty of contingency plans in place in case he isn’t.