Austin

Riley

The Braves’ terrible start has already cost Orlando Arcia his starting job at shortstop and Riley the second spot in the lineup, as the team is trying Ozzie Albies there now (he also went 0-for-4 tonight). Riley, who is hitting fifth, actually has five barrels in 21 balls in play, but they’ve mostly gone to the wrong spots, leaving him 5-for-35 with one homer and one double overall. We’d put more stock in the barrels than in the .143 average.

Riley was plunked in the hand Friday — the same hand that was fractured in August — but scans revealed no structural damage for the 27-year-old. Crisis averted.

Riley told reporters afterwards that he felt great and should be able to return to game action in the next couple days. The 27-year-old third baseman underwent a CT scan and an MRI on Friday that didn’t reveal anything serious after he was hit by a pitch on the right hand during Friday’s spring training contest. It’s an extremely encouraging sign that he’s already resumed hitting and it doesn’t appear that he’s in any danger of missing Opening Day.

Atlanta is calling Riley day-to-day. The third baseman received both an MRI on top of the scan to be sure there was no structural damage, and both came back negative. Riley should be back in the lineup in the coming days.

Riley was plunked in the same hand that was fractured back in August, and now will undergo a CT Scan. It’s worth pointing out that scan was what revealed the fracture over the summer, so Riley isn’t out of the woods just yet. Still, it’s a positive development that the initial imaging revealed no structural damge.

It’s worth noting that it’s the same hand that he fractured last August. Mark Bowman of MLB.com notes that Riley passed initial strength tests and didn’t seem uncomfortable, but Atlanta isn’t going to take any chances and he’ll all but assuredly undergo imaging to make sure there’s no fracture. There should be more on Riley’s status this weekend.

Riley and Matt Olson hit back-to-back homers off Marcus Stroman in the first. Riley has typically hit second this spring, but the Braves backed him up to third with Marcell Ozuna not playing today. The guess here is that Riley will hit second behind Jurickson Profar on Opening Day.

The guess here was the Braves would use some combination of Michael Harris II, Jurickson Profar and Ozzie Albies as their top two hitters to open the season, meaning someone from the Riley, Matt Olsen, Marcell Ozuna trio would be stuck batting fifth. Today, though, it was Riley, Olsen and Ozuna second through fourth, with Harris hitting fifth. Neither Profar nor Albies played, leaving Eli White as the leadoff man. If today’s setup holds up, we’re guessing it’ll be Profar batting first and Albies and Harris in the fifth and sixth spots. That would be particularly good news for Riley, who seemed the most likely candidate to bat fifth in our presumed arrangement, and bad news for Harris.

Riley hoped to get the cast on his fractured hand removed and return for the playoffs, but now that’s off the table. It was a nightmare of a 2024 season that ends on a down note. He saw his streak of three straight years with at least 159 games played, 33 home runs, 90 runs scored and 93 RBI come to an end. Riley could be a bargain in drafts next year, though he’s coming off a broken hamate bone, which typically saps power upon return to the field.

Riley’s injury has been generically reported as a fractured hand, but the player said today that it’s the hamate bone that was broken. He’s currently 4 1/2 weeks into a projected absence of 6-8 weeks. If the cast can come off Monday, it’s possible he’ll be able to make it back for the beginning of the postseason, should the Braves advance.