The Atlanta Braves just cannot seem to catch a break in 2025. They have been absolutely ravaged by injuries in 2025 and even when they get to play in a fun exhibition game at Bristol Motor Speedway, the weather decides to cause some chaos. In short, Braves fans are not having fun and unfortunately, the resumed Speedway Classic wasn't any different as we now have uncertainty around Austin Riley.
The resumed game started off well enough as Eli White cranked a three-run homer to give the Braves the lead early. However, when Riley's turn came in the lineup, Luke Williams was pinch-hitting for him which was obviously a bit of a surprise. Unfortunately, it appears as though Riley aggravated his previous abdominal injury as he was pulled with more lower abdominal pain.
3B Austin Riley was removed from today’s game with lower abdominal pain.
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) August 3, 2025
Austin Riley appears to aggravate previous injury in Speedway Classic as Braves' spiral continues
At some point, something has to give with how the Braves are handling their conditioning, medical, and return-to-play protocols as this is getting pretty ridiculous. Riley was originally placed on the injured list on July 12 with an abdominal strain, was reinstated on July 25, and now he is still dealing with pain in the area enough to be pulled from the game.
One hopes that this is just garden variety soreness that came from a quick turnaround from last night to today. However, if the rest of this hellscape of a season is any indication, there is a real chance that Riley could be shut down for even longer that his first stint if he comes back this year at all. If it comes out that he has a hernia or a more serious injury than just a strain, heads need to roll for letting him come back so quick during this lost season.
We'll get more updates after the game almost certainly from manager Brian Snitker. Hopefully we get some good news as the Braves are starting to run out of players to replace guys and major league trades are no longer an option to fix them.