Riley launched his first home run since May 20th in Saturday's win over the New York Mets.
As Saturday’s rout of the New York Mets went on, the Atlanta Braves saw some firepower from the bat of Austin Riley for the first time in a long time in the eighth inning.
In a two-strike count, Riley scorched a ball over the wall the opposite way for a three-run home run. It also broke a long-lasting skid without a homer — it was his first since May 20, which is a span of 37 games without leaving the yard.
Unfortunately for Riley, the slump has encapsulated his recent struggles and gradual decline as an offensive threat. But with his homer on Saturday and a handful of encouraging at-bats, the Braves opt to remain patient with his bat, as they hope to get his offensive production back to what it once was.
“He’s doing everything in his power to figure things out,” said Braves manager Walt Weiss, according to Donnell Suggs of The Atlanta Voice.
Shockingly enough, Riley’s home run wasn’t even his hardest hit ball of the day. His first at-bat of the game was an unfortunate hard-hit lineout to left field, one that had an exit velocity of 112 MPH off the bat.
The Braves are hoping the results can translate very soon, as Riley’s homer is a big first step. His cage work is also beginning to shift over to game action, as he was working on driving the ball the opposite way in batting practice.
Heading into Sunday’s game, Riley has hit .207 with nine home runs this season. His power numbers have also taken a significant dip over the past couple years — after leading all third basemen in home runs in 2022 and 2023, he has yet to surpass 20 homers in a season.
Riley’s OPS this year has concerningly sat among the lowest in the league, as his .625 tally on Sunday morning is the 10th worst among all qualified players.
On top of the disappointing numbers, Riley is the 23rd live-ball era player to see his OPS decline in five consecutive seasons. Alarmingly enough, the 29-year-old is the youngest player to do so.
On Wednesday, Weiss mentioned that Riley has had several conversations with Braves legend Chipper Jones recently with hopes of turning his season around for the better. They were seen conversing by the batting cage that day, and since then, Riley has had some notably solid plate appearances over the weekend.
