At this point, everyone is starting to run out of ways to describe how bad Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley has been in recent years. Riley was once thought to be a lineup cornerstone that would be a consistent source of power that would help Atlanta compete for World Series for years to come. The Braves seemed to agree, which is exactly why they handed Riley a lucrative contract extension. Instead, Riley has seen his production drop off in an eerily familiar way.
While most of the attention has been on Riley's brutal start to the 2026 season, his troubles go back further than that. Riley hasn't had a "good" season since 2023, and the last two seasons saw him deal with a number of challenges, including some unfortunate injuries that have cost him some time. Now, he looks like a shadow of his former self.
If that sounds familiar, it is similar to what the Braves had to deal with from Marcell Ozuna a few years ago.
Austin Riley's struggles with Braves are weirdly similar to Marcell Ozuna's first decline, but that also gives a glimmer of hope
Now, the comparisons between Riley and Ozuna are not perfect whatsoever. Riley actually plays defense, and Ozuna was both older and dealt with a lot of off-the-field problems of his own making during his brutal stretch in 2021 and 2022. While many of the causes are likely to be different, not all of them are, and the numbers sort of speak for themselves.
Before the start of this season, where Riley has posted a .643 OPS, he combined to put up a .258/.316/.445 line while only averaging 106 games played per year. A broken hand caused him to miss a bunch of time first, followed by last season's debacle, where he needed hernia surgery, which caused Riley to miss a lot of time. It is fair to wonder if he is still feeling the aftereffects.
With Ozuna, his multiple arrests and age are two things that Riley didn't have going against him, but there were some injury headwinds he faced as well. In 2021, he broke two fingers on his left hand sliding into third, and was on the injured list for a long time before his administrative leave/suspension kicked in. From the start of 2021 through the end of the 2022 season, Ozuna was actually worse than Riley has been while posting a .222/.278/.397 line with 30 homers in 172 games.
However, the Braves should actually take this as a source of hope as well as some despair. Ozuna beat the odds and came back in 2023 and 2024 to be one of the Braves' best hitters again, before Father Time finally claimed him last season. At Riley's age and with his track record, there is still hope that he can figure things out. If Ozuna could (if only for a short while), anything is possible.
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