The third month of this unprecedented baseball season is upon us as the calendar turns to September, the bat of 3B Austin Riley is heating up. At the beginning of this season it was going to be a battle at the hot corner between INF Johan Camargo and Riley to replace departed 3B Josh Donaldson, who jetted to the twin cities.
Last year Riley was called up on May 15 and was instantly placed in the lineup. He then went on to plummet the ball into outer space where it is probably just now landing over a year later. Riley was named Rookie of the Month for May 2019 with these ridiculous numbers. During that first couple months he hit for an average of .324, 9 HRs, 25 RBIs. But that is where the praise ended when pitchers stopped throwing Riley faseballs and learned he couldn’t hit cure balls and sliders. His average slipped way below .200 and the Braves opted to send him back to Triple A Gwinnett to work more on hitting the breaking ball. Riley was also left off the 2019 playoff roster.
But now let’s swing to 2020 where the pandemic hit. I know Riley was itching to show his worth, but that worth would just have to wait until late July once the season started. All offseason all I heard was it was going to be a toss up of who played better at third base. Would it be Camargo or Riley that would take the lead. At first both players struggled so it was depending on who was the pitcher for the night, Riley is right handed and Camargo is left handed. But with 2B Ozzie Albies on the injured list with a hand injury, Camargo has taken over at second base leading Riley to claim third. Now lets get this straight, Camargo is not taking Albies job when Albies returns, and Camargo hasn’t been that productive at 2nd. Let’s face it, Camargo is a utility player at best filling in when need be. With Riley at his natural preferred position at third, he has felt comfortable in the games played there this season. Exactly what all the fans and media expected of him there this year. What they didn’t expect was what has been happing at the plate. At the start of the season Riley hit .125 with 2 HRs, but for the past two weeks he has been on a tear, credit to be able to hit the breaking ball as well as the fastball. Riley has been practicing all winter to get his swing better to hit the breaking ball.
The numbers Riley has been putting up the last couple weeks is making people think he is solidifying his role as the every day third baseman to be in the starting lineup, exactly what the Braves were hoping for when they drafted him. Braves have been looking for that every day third baseman since Chipper Jones retired in 2012. Since the Braves have platooned players at third with hopes that Donaldson would sign long term with Atlanta. The numbers that Riley is putting up now will keep him at third every day. In the last 11 games, Riley has hit .375 with 12 RBIs and a slugging percentage of 1.119. The Braves have won the first two games in Boston versus the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Two nights ago in the first game three, Riley almost had the grandest of all home runs, but instead he did this:
I think Riley has played his way at staying at third. Catching up with the breaking ball has helped him tremendously and it is only up from here.
Braves are going for the sweep tonight in Boston, first pitch at 7:30pm est.
Photo Courtesy of ATL All Day, Twitter Courtesy of Atlanta Braves
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