Riley homers in Braves loss to Yankees

Riley extended the lead for Atlanta to 3-0 with a mammoth shot off John King. The 29-year-old also singled, but the two reach game still has his slash at a orderline unusable .220/.296/.360. There’s just enough time to turn some of those numbers around, but it’s hard to be too optimistic based on what he’s done in 2026.

Riley had a two-homer game against the Rangers on July 19, and since then he’s hit .162/.225/.189 with no homers and one stolen base. Riley hasn’t been good all season and it wouldn’t be surprising if the Braves started to cut his playing time down the stretch, though there’s nothing to suggest at this point that this is more than a routine day off.

Riley hit a pair of solo homers off Nathan Eovaldi, and he also had a two-run single for good measure. The 29-year-old has not had nearly enough games like this in 2026, as made evident in his slash still sitting at .217/.296/.361 over the first 98 games of the campaign. It’s hard to completely write off Riley because there are flashes of what made him one of the best players at the hot corner in baseball, but it’s still hard to have too much optimism at this stage.

Riley wasn’t very good last year and certainly hasn’t been any good in batting .219/.295/.355 this season, but it’d still be very dangerous to write him off while his power remains intact. Maybe he won’t fully rebound, but it’s hard to imagine him not being somewhat better the rest of the way.

Still patiently waiting for Riley to turn the corner, it was nice to see him have such a strong game. Apart from the three hits, he had four hard-hit balls. Still, eight home runs and a .206 batting average are still completely inexcusable as we approach the halfway point in the season.

It’s an extremely rare off day for Riley, who is hitting .242 (23-for-95) with five homers and 14 RBI since the start of May. The decision enables Atlanta to get Mauricio Dubón in the lineup at the hot corner to face Reds righty Brady Singer.

Walt Weiss sure does love to tinker. He also has Michael Harris II batting second for the first time tonight. Ozzie Albies is in the cleanup spot. Riley is back down to .211/.279/.368 for the season after the last two games. He’s hit .250 with four homers and 11 RBI in 17 games this month, but that has come with a poor 22/2 K/BB.

Riley’s homer was a three-run blast in the second inning off Brayan Bello, giving Atlanta a lead they wouldn’t surrender. It hasn’t yet been the bounce-back season many fantasy managers were hoping for, but he’s hit better in May, with four of his seven homers coming this month. Riley entered Sunday with a barrel rate below 10 percent for the first time in his career, but his track record remains worth betting on just like it was back in draft season. The Braves visit the Marlins for a four-game set before returning home to face the Nationals next weekend.

Riley has been awful to begin the season, but after a two-hit game Friday, the 29-year-old had one of his best games of 2026. He not only hit his third homer, but he also stole his third base, drew a walk and scored a couple of runs. Even with the solid contest, he’s still slashing .205/.287/.346, but fantasy managers know what kind of runs Riley is capable of going on. Perhaps this is the start.

Riley is now batting .190/.274/.314 through his first 135 plate appearances of 2026. It’s a disappointing start for a player who appeared locked in this spring and who many expected to bounce back if health cooperated. He was recently dropped to sixth against right-handers.