The Atlanta Braves are lucky to have such a strong core of players for the foreseeable future. A lot of those players showed the organization enough to earn early contract extensions. Austin Riley was one of the first to receive one of those contracts, and he's currently one of the highest-paid players on the roster. He is a fan-favorite, but 2025 was not a fun time for him. That struggle has some fans concerned his contract will not favor the Braves in the end.
However, Riley is a player Atlanta seems to strongly believe in. They handed him a 10-year, $212 million contract after an MVP-caliber 2021 season. He rewarded that decision with consecutive All-Star seasons in 2022 and 2023.
Unfortunately, Riley has dropped off over the last two years, but injuries have played a part in that. Some of the issues do stem from him not being patient or disciplined enough at the plate. This is especially apparent with certain pitch types.
Austin Riley's issues with breaking balls have to be addressed if the Braves slugger is to return to form
Riley really struggled with sliders and curveballs a lot in 2025. With sliders, he batted .176 with a 34.3% strikeout rate and 40.7% whiff rate. He faired much better against those pitches in 2024 with a .311 average, 28.9 strikeout rate, and 37.6% whiff rate.
He still struggled to lay off the pitches, but was able to get on base more often. His averages against the curveball actually improved from 2024 to 2025. It improved from .130 to .182, but his strikeout rate remained high.
A deeper look at his StatCast page becomes even more frustrating. He excelled with bat speed, exit velo, launch angle, barrel percentage, and hard-hit percentage. All of that is nullified by atrocious squared-up, whiff, chase, strikeout, and walk percentages.
Combine that with below-average defense, and you understand exactly why he stunk despite the injuries. He has to improve against breaking balls if he's going to return to MVP-level performance. It's a big reason fans are shocked he was nominated for a Silver Slugger.
There's a lot of time left for Riley to prove he's worthy of such a massive contract. But fans will run out of patience sooner or later.