Braves' Austin Riley: Launches game-deciding homer
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Riley went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run during Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Phillies on Tuesday.
The veteran third baseman came to the plate in the eighth inning with Atlanta trailing 3-2, and he delivered a three-run homer to right-center field off Philadelphia closer Jhoan Duran to flip the script. Riley closed the regular season by going 0-for-11 with six strikeouts in his last three games, dropping his OPS for the campaign to a career-worst .654 in 159 contests. Already the Game 1 hero, Riley could effectively erase all his 2026 struggles if he continues to perform in the playoffs.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Belts solo homer Friday
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Riley went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo homer during Friday's 3-2 extra-inning loss to the Yankees.
Neither team scored through the first seven innings, but Riley broke that drought with a solo homer in the eighth. It was the 14th home run of the season for Riley, who has reached base safely in six of his last seven games, going 9-for-23 with seven RBI and five extra-base hits in that span.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Goes deep in win
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Riley went 2-for-3 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's 4-2 win over the Marlins.
Riley provided Atlanta with some insurance in the seventh inning, launching a two-run homer off John King for his 13th long ball of the season. The third baseman has shown signs of heating up in the second half of the season, batting .290 with four home runs across 17 games. Despite the recent surge, Riley is still slashing just .220/.296/.360 on the season, with each mark on pace to be his lowest since his rookie campaign in 2019.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Taking seat Thursday
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Riley is not in the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Nationals.
Riley had started to heat up around the All-Star break, but he's just 6-for-37 with a 2:20 BB:K over his last 10 games. Mauricio Dubon will handle third-base duties while Riley gets a day to clear his head.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Slugs eighth homer
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Riley went 1-for-3 with a walk and a three-run home run in Wednesday's win over the Marlins.
The third baseman took Janson Junk deep in the second inning to put Atlanta in the lead for good. The homer was Riley's eighth of the season and his fifth in May over 18 games, a month in which he's slashing .254/.301/.507 with 14 RBI, but a worrisome 3:23 BB:K. After a couple injury-marred campaigns, Riley has stayed healthy so far in 2026, but he has yet to put together an extended hot streak that would put him on track to reach the 30-HR, 90-RBI marks for the first time since 2023.
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Phillies' Taijuan Walker: Hit hard in Friday's loss
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Walker (1-3) took the loss Friday as the Phillies were routed 9-0 by Atlanta, coughing up seven runs on seven hits and three walks over four innings. He struck out four.
The right-hander served up homers to Austin Riley in the second inning and Dominic Smith in the third, the second time in four starts that Walker has been taken deep multiple times. It's been a brutal beginning to the year for the 33-year-old, and he carries a 9.16 ERA, 2.04 WHIP and 16:10 K:BB through 18.2 innings. Zack Wheeler (shoulder) will make what could be his final rehab start Sunday, but that schedule would allow Walker to get one more turn through the rotation on the road next week against the Cubs before being replaced.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Slugs first homer of year
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Riley went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run in Wednesday's win over the Marlins.
It took 19 games, but Riley finally left the yard in 2026 when he launched a first-pitch fastball from John King over the left-field wall to lead off the sixth inning. The third baseman has a rough start to the campaign, but over the last eight games he's batting .303 (10-for-33) with three doubles, two steals, seven RBI and eight runs.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Drives in two runs
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Riley went 2-for-5 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in Sunday's win over Cleveland.
Riley added to the blowout with a two-RBI double in the eighth inning to extend Atlanta's lead to 12. It's been a slow start to the season for the third baseman, who owns a .614 OPS through 16 games with no homers to date, though his numbers have improved of late, as the 29-year-old is slashing .280/.400/.360 over his past seven contests.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Crosses plate three times in win
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Riley went 1-for-3 with two walks, a double, three runs scored and a stolen base in Wednesday's win over the Angels.
It was a busy day on the basepaths for the third baseman, who isn't exactly known for his wheels -- the steal was just the eighth of Riley's career, and his first of 2026. He's still looking for his first homer of the year, and through 13 games Riley is slashing .200/.308/.244 with two doubles, three RBI and six runs.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Might run more this season
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Riley could be surprisingly active as a base stealer this season under the tutelage of new Atlanta baserunning coach Antoan Richardson, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
Richardson was the man most responsible for Juan Soto's stunning 38-steal campaign last season, and while Riley has only seven career stolen bases in seven MLB seasons, he's not actually slow of foot -- his sprint speed in 2025 ranked in the 73rd percentile. "He's going to get 20," center fielder Michael Harris said Friday. Riley was successful on his only steal attempt of the spring so far, but until he actually shows more willingness to use his legs, any contribution he makes in steals should be viewed as a bonus by fantasy GMs.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Launches first spring homer
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Riley went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run in Atlanta's Grapefruit League game against the Pirates on Wednesday.
The third baseman took Jarod Bayless deep in the third inning, taking advantage of Paul Skenes' exit two batters prior. Riley was fully healthy for the first time in a while this offseason, and he's looking to rebound after a couple tough campaigns that saw him hit just 35 homers in 212 regular-season games with a .760 OPS -- a sharp decline for the 28-year-old after he belted 75 long balls with an .869 OPS in 2022-23 while missing only six games in total.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Transferred to 60-day IL
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Atlanta transferred Riley (abdomen) from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Monday.
The transaction frees a spot on the 40-man roster for the addition of Ha-Seong Kim (back), who was claimed off waivers from the Rays on Monday. Riley underwent season-ending core surgery nearly two weeks ago and is expected to be ready for spring training.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Undergoes season-ending surgery
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Atlanta announced Thursday that Riley (abdomen) underwent season-ending core injury surgery.
Riley is expected to be ready for the start of spring training in February. The third baseman has been out since Aug. 2 and had been experiencing soreness in his abdominal area, and he was rehabbing to play again this year before suffering a setback this week. With surgery now in the rearview mirror, Riley's 2025 season is officially over, and he finished with a .260/.309/.428 slash line, 16 home runs, 54 RBI, 54 runs scored, two stolen bases and a 27:128 BB:K across 447 plate appearances. Now that he's done for the year, Riley will have missed a total of 112 games over the past two seasons.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Runs bases, still feels sore
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Riley ran the bases Sunday but still felt some abdominal discomfort, Mark Bowman of MLB.com reports.
He will run again Tuesday, but a timeline for Riley's return to the Atlanta roster remains unclear. Riley has been sidelined for most of this month with a strained lower abdominal muscle. Nacho Alvarez will continue filling in at third base for Atlanta until Riley is ready to return from the injured list.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Back to IL with abdominal strain
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Atlanta placed Riley on the 10-day injured list Monday with a strained lower abdominal muscle.
Riley spent a couple weeks on the injured list in July with an abdominal strain and is now back on the IL after aggravating the injury Sunday. He will be eligible for activation Aug. 14, but Atlanta will likely be more cautious with his recovery this time around. Nacho Alvarez was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to step in as the everyday third baseman.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Departs due to abdominal pain
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Riley was removed from Sunday's game against the Reds due to lower abdominal pain.
Sunday was slated to be an off day for Cincinnati and Atlanta, but the two clubs instead resumed Saturday's MLB Speedway Classic after the game was suspended in the first inning due to rain. Riley struck out swinging Saturday before the game was halted, and he was replaced by Luke Williams before coming up to the plate Sunday. The severity of the injury remains unclear, and Riley should be considered day-to-day heading into Monday's series opener versus Milwaukee. Given that Riley was reinstated July 25 following a stint on the injured list due to a lower abdominal strain, it's worrisome that he's seemingly dealing with a recurrence of the injury just over a week later.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Homers, plates four in win
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Riley went 2-for-6 with a homer, a double, and four RBI in Monday's 10-7 victory at Kansas City.
The Atlanta third baseman clubbed a 422-foot solo shot off Royals reliever Sam Long to tally his first long ball since returning from an abdomen injury July 25. Riley also cleared the bases with his 20th two-bagger of the season in the eighth to notch his fourth game with four or more RBI this season. Through 427 total plate appearances, the two-time All-Star is slashing .268/.319/.437 with 15 homers, 52 RBI and 52 runs scored in 97 games.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Back from injured list
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Atlanta reinstated Riley (abdomen) from the 10-day injured list Friday.
The third baseman was still feeling some discomfort in his lower abdomen earlier this week, but he's ready to rejoin the big-league roster Friday after spending two weeks on the injured list. Riley had a hot start to July prior to the injury, going 13-for-41 (.317 average) with five doubles, two homers, six RBI and five runs in 10 games.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Lands on injured list
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Atlanta placed Riley on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a right abdominal strain.
Riley's abdomen forced him to make an early exit during the fourth inning of Friday's contest, and now that further evaluation has confirmed a strain, he'll remain on the sidelines until at least July 22. Nacho Alvarez will come up from Triple-A Gwinnett to replenish Atlanta's infield depth, though Luke Williams is the most likely option to take over at third base until Riley returns.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Stays hot with three hits
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Riley went 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored in Monday's win over the Brewers.
The third baseman has a history of heating up with the weather, and Riley has reeled off four multi-hit performances over the last five games to fuel a .323/.364/.548 slash line over the last 15 contests. The 28-year-old also has a 3:17 BB:K over that stretch however, continuing a trend that has seen him post his worst plate-discipline rates on the season (6.3 percent walk rate, 27.4 percent strikeout rate) since his rookie campaign in 2019.
