The Atlanta Braves started the second half of the 2025 season far better than they started the first half with a dominant win over the Yankees on Friday. The team was seemingly firing on all cylinders, but it was a bit of a different lineup than we are used to seeing. While Jurickson Profar's return has played a role in the lineup change, the absence of Austin Riley has also forced the Braves to change things up.
Riley suffered an abdominal injury right at the end of the second half and that removed a pretty big cog from the middle of the Braves' lineup. While Riley hasn't had a great season so far, he has remained a real threat in Atlanta's lineup and had looked much better in July with a .919 OPS in 10 games before he got hurt. With Riley out, Profar has been in the leadoff spot while Ronald Acuña Jr. has been batting third.
Riley gave an update on his injury on Friday and while it was largely good news, it also brought with it some questions as to whether or not manager Brian Snitker was going to go back to Acuña Jr. batting leadoff once Riley returns.
Austin Riley appears to be progressing well in his recovery, but the Braves' lineup may remain odd upon his return
So the good news is that Riley is feeling much better than he was. Not only did Riley say that the injury was relatively minor, but he also said that the All-Star break gave him an opportunity to get some intense and focused treatment that seems to have paid dividends. While there is no timeline for Riley's return, he did say that this injury was milder than the oblique injury that kept him out of 14 games last season which gives hope of a fairly swift return.
However, Braves fans may want to not get their hopes up about the lineup going back to normal upon Riley's return. Acuña Jr. said after the game that while he "finally feel(s) like a power hitter", he also thought that Riley would "probably resume his post" once he returned from the injured list.
While Acuña Jr. may think that, Snitker seemed to disagree and said, "I don’t know about that. I kind of like (Acuña) there. I like that top three right there, I think that’s pretty good." Snit also acknowledged that he always thought of Acuña Jr. as a #3 hitter and that he thought Riley wouldn't care where he hit in the lineup upon his return either way.
This is certainly a far cry from when Snitker admitted years ago that batting Acuña Jr. at leadoff was something he should have embraced long before he actually did. Perhaps Snitker never actually changed his mind and just went with what was working or maybe he views Acuña Jr. as a different sort of player now after his injuries. Whatever his reasoning, it seems as though the Braves' lineup may remain permanently changed upon Riley's return.