Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley struggled throughout April, but he remained confident in his approach and that he would eventually get results. That happened on Wednesday during the Braves' 5-2 win over the Seattle Mariners, as Riley recorded two hits, including a two-run triple.
“That first one, I was praying Moore wasn't going to snag it, and the same with the one at the wall in right field,” Austin Riley said, via Mark Bowman of MLB.com. “Both of them fell, and I was able to get some steaks with it.”
Despite the slow start to the season, Riley has maintained the mindset that all he can do is try to hit the ball hard, and everything else is out of his control.
“I'm a big believer in control what you can control and once the ball leaves the bat, there's nothing you can do,” Riley said, via Bowman.
Riley's raw metrics were disappointing in April, but his xwOBA of .343, along with good average exit velocity, barrel percentage and hard-hit rate indicated that luck would go his way soon. Riley's .235 average, .311 on-base percentage, 99 wRC+ and the mark of two home runs so far this season is not up to his standard, but there is still a ton of time for him to perform to expectations. The advanced metrics indicate that happening. Riley is not the only player on the Braves who could be on the verge of breaking out.
Braves stars primed for breakouts
Along with Riley, Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson have gotten off to slow starts this season. Both of those players have advanced metrics indicate them producing more in the near future than they have over the first month of the season.
For example, Ronald Acuna Jr.'s raw batting average (.245) and slugging percentage (.318) are both significantly lower than the expected batting average (.253) and expected slugging percentage (.372). These expected metrics use batted ball data, and are generally seen as more predictive than the raw stats that a player has posted.
The gap between Matt Olson's raw and expected statistics are even bigger than Acuna's. Olson has a .202 batting average, but the expected one is .252, while his .385 slugging percentage is well below the expected of .478. Based on this information, Olson might be on the verge of a hot streak.
Riley remains confident in his teammates, not only himself. The three came together for a key inning in Wednesday's win against the Mariners.
“A lot of guys have been picking us up over the last month,” Riley said, via Bowman. “To finally get together and have a really good inning like that, that's encouraging. If we can get going and the guys are doing their thing, I like where we will be.”
Despite the slow starts for their three stars, the Braves are 20-9 overall. That is scary for the rest of the league.
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