Austin Riley is Peaking at the Perfect Time for the Atlanta Braves

August: Riley County

The month of August has really been what's driving Riley's impressive stat line at the moment. Through 10 games, his average for the month sits at .349 with an OBP of .388 and a slugging percentage of .628 so far. His OPS sits at 1.016 in August and is absolute insanity.

Before hitting his 11th homer since the All-Star break in Friday's game against the Mets, Riley's 10 homers since the break were the most in all of baseball back on August 4th. It's like someone went onto MLB The Show and supercharged his card with maxed-out attributes. He's just found another gear and it sure is a lot of fun to watch.

His bat is impressive but his defense has also been much improved in the second half and he's starting to make some really nice plays out there. Now, he's still not an elite defender but has been providing some above-average defense lately that compliments his offensive surge very well.

Will he be able to sustain this pace? It's hard to say because there are a lot of factors that go into having success at the plate. However, he's gotten hot at the right time and could carry his hot bat through the final two months of the regular season. A confident Austin Riley is the best Austin Riley and fans are getting to see exactly why he was signed to a 10-year extension.