The 2021 season has been a slog for the Atlanta Braves, for all sorts of reasons. There are many reasons why teams expected to be good may end up with subpar records, but the Braves have been beset by more than a few of them. We won’t rehash them here. Instead, we’ll focus on a bright spot (well, sort of...): Austin Riley.
After a torrid six-week debut stretch that quickly cratered into some real poor hitting, Austin Riley came into the 2021 season as more of a question than an answer. He was handed the starter’s job at third base, but his career to date comprised an 87 wRC+ and 0.