For the second straight season, Atlanta Braves slugger Austin Riley's season has ended in August. After suffering an abdominal injury that wouldn't heal, the Braves announced that Riley underwent core injury surgery and would miss the remainder of the season.
While it looked like just a week ago the Braves third baseman was on the mend, the club will once again lean on the team's depth to try and get through the season.
Additionally, Austin Riley today underwent core injury surgery, performed by Dr. William Meyers in Philadelphia, PA. He will miss the remainder of the regular season, and is expected to return for spring training in 2026.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 21, 2025
What Austin Riley's season ending surgery means for the Braves
Austin Riley's 2025 was no doubt disappointing. After missing the final month and a half to a broken wrist, the slugger was looking to return back to his pre-2024 levels of success. Instead, the righty struggled through most of the season, and finished with a mediocre .260/.309/.428 slash line and a barely above league-average wRC+ of 103.
Still, Riley's expected numbers suggested he was getting slightly unlucky, and Atlanta would certainly have a lineup with an underperforming Riley than no Riley at all.
There are certainly questions whether the Braves handled Riley's injury correctly the first time, as he did miss part of July with an abdominal injury and likely came back too quickly. Hopefully this surgery will correct the issue and prevent any lingering issue next season.
In his place, Nacho Alvarez will attempt to prove that he's a major league caliber player. The 22-year-old's July stint was unimpressive, as he slashed .200/.250/.233 with a 36 wRC+, his August stint has been much better, as he has a .275/.373/.353 slash and a 111 wRC+.
The third baseman still hasn't shown much pop and has a .389 batting average on balls in play, but the 8.5% walk-rate in August is certainly encouraging, especially considering that Alvarez did not draw a single walk in his small cup of coffee in 2024. Overall, the metrics aren't in love with Alvarez, but he's at least shown that he can provide league-average defense at the hot corner.
Overall, this might be a positive for the Braves, getting Riley back to 100% while also seeing if Nacho Alvarez can play into their 2026 plans.