It has been a historic season for the Atlanta Braves in 2023. They still hold the best record in all of baseball at 73-41 and carry a run differential of +170 which is out of this world.
The pitching staff had been one of the top in all of baseball through the first half but that has recently regressed majorly and in the second half, they have one of the worst team ERAs in all of baseball. They rank 27th with a collective 4.95 ERA since the All-Star break.
Atlanta's offense has remained strong despite a slightly slow start to the second half. The team average was second-best in baseball at .270 through 89 games before the break with a .830 OPS. Through the second half so far, they have stayed second-best with a team average of .282 and a .877 OPS through 25 games.
Austin Riley has been one of the main drivers of that sustained success after the All-Star break. He came into the second half of the season as a man on a mission. Once a year it feels like Austin just goes on a long streak of crushing the baseball.
Specifically, the months of July and August have always been kind to Austin. In July, he has a .295 career average with 32 HR and 81 RBI through 104 games. The career average in the month of August is .299 with 17 HR and 59 RBI through 87 games.
The Braves' third baseman currently has a .281/.339/.512 line with a .851 OPS through 114 games. He has 128 hits including 22 2B, 1 3B, 27 HR, 72 RBI, 39 BB, and 117 K. Definitely an all-around great season but since the All-Star break, he's been on another level entirely.