Austin Riley

Michael Austin Riley (born April 2, 1997) is an American professional baseball third baseman and outfielder for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB).

Austin Riley
Atlanta Braves – No. 27
Third baseman / Outfielder
Born: (1997-04-02) April 2, 1997
Memphis, Tennessee
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
May 15, 2019, for the Atlanta Braves
MLB statistics
(through September 19, 2019)
Batting average.239
Home runs18
Runs batted in49
Teams
Career highlights and awards
  • NL Rookie of the Month (May 2019)

Early life

Austin Riley is the eldest son of parents Mike and Elisa Riley.[1][2][3] Riley attended DeSoto Central High School, where he played baseball as a shortstop and pitcher.[4][5] Riley was committed to play for the Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team until he was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2015.[6][7]

Career

Riley was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in the first round, with the 41st overall selection, in 2015 MLB draft out of DeSoto Central High School in Southaven, Mississippi.[8][9] Though he was committed to Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team,[10][11] Riley chose to sign with the Braves for $1.6 million.[12] Riley made his professional debut with the Gulf Coast Braves that season. After 30 games, he was promoted to the Danville Braves in the Appalachian League. Overall in 60 games he batted .304/.389/.544 with 12 home runs over 217 at-bats.[13][14]

Prior to starting the 2017 season with the Florida Fire Frogs,[15] Riley spent some time in spring training with the Atlanta Braves.[16] He was promoted to the Mississippi Braves in July.[17][18] In 129 games between Florida and Mississippi, Riley hit .275/.339/.446 with 20 home runs and 74 RBIs, and was assigned to the Peoria Javelinas of the Arizona Fall League at the end of the minor league regular season.[19] Prior to the start of the 2018 season, Riley received an invitation to spring training.[20] He was ranked among the top prospects in the minor leagues prior to the season.[21] He began 2018 with Mississippi, and after batting .333 with six home runs and 20 RBIs in 27 games, and was promoted to the Gwinnett Stripers in May.[22][23] In 75 games with Gwinnett, he hit .282/.346/.464/.810 with 12 home runs and 47 RBI. He opened the 2019 season with Gwinnett.[24]

On May 15, 2019, Austin Riley was called up to the Atlanta Braves prior to their game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Riley was promoted after Ender Inciarte was placed on the injured list.[25][26] He made his major league debut that night and, in his second at bat, hit a home run off Michael Wacha.[27][28] On May 29, 2019 Riley, despite a 14-4 blowout loss to the Nationals, hit his first career grand slam, marking his seventh home run in fourteen career games and bringing his RBI total to twenty. At the time, his seven home runs in fourteen games were the second most to begin a career, trailing only Trevor Story (Aristides Aquino has since passed them both with nine). On June 1, he hit his eighth home run in sixteen games, becoming the fourth player in major league baseball history to achieve this feat.[29] He was also the fastest player in Braves franchise history to do so. Riley earned the NL Rookie of the Month Award for May 2019, despite only playing in 15 games.

August 8, 2019 Austin was placed on the 10 day IL due to a right knee sprain retroactive to August 5, 2019. It was later revealed that Riley had a partial tear in his lateral collateral ligament that was sustained while working out.[30] Riley began a rehab assignment on August 22 with the Rome Braves and as of September 1 was continuing to rehab with the Gwinnett Stripers.[31]

References
  1. Hummer, Steve (May 11, 2019). "How long do Braves keep Riley on farm when he's hitting like this?". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  2. "Austin Riley homers in MLB debut, Braves blank Cardinals 4-0". USA Today. ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 15, 2019. Archived from the original on May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  3. Riley's family watches his debut. Busch Stadium: MLB.com. May 15, 2019. Event occurs at 0:02. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  4. Olney, Buster (May 26, 2019). "Olney: Braves embrace the instant impact of Austin Riley, power prodigy". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 28, 2019.
  5. Wickham, Pete (April 17, 2014). "Jags, Lewisburg making push for postseason". The Commercial Appeal. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  6. Bonner, Michael (June 16, 2015). "Austin Riley expected to sign with Braves on Wednesday". USA Today. Retrieved May 16, 2019 – via The Clarion Ledger.
  7. Bonner, Michael (June 18, 2015). "MSU signee Riley receives bigger bonus than slot value". The Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  8. Bakken, Bob (June 8, 2015). "DeSoto Central's Riley picked in MLB Draft". DeSoto Times Tribune. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  9. Bowman, Mark (June 9, 2015). "Braves turn to power-packed Riley at No. 41". MLB.com. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  10. Bonner, Michael (June 10, 2015). "MLB drafts six MSU signees, one already agrees to terms". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  11. Bonner, Michael (June 17, 2015). "MSU signee Austin Riley's MLB contract pending approval". Clarion Ledger. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  12. Dykstra, Sam (March 8, 2016). "Braves' Riley ready to build on first season". MILB.com. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  13. O'Brien, David (February 25, 2015). "Braves have a slugging prospect; Top 50 Albums of 2015". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  14. Dykstra, Sam (February 22, 2016). "Farm System Rankings: Position players". MILB.com. Retrieved April 12, 2016.
  15. Krzus, Thaddeus (April 4, 2017). "Fire Frogs Announce Opening Day Roster". MILB.com. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  16. O'Brien, David (March 4, 2017). "Another 19-year-old, Austin Riley, impresses in Braves camp". Atlanta Journal Constitution. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  17. Shanks, Bill (July 12, 2017). "Atlanta Braves promote outfielder Ronald Acuna to Triple-A Gwinnett". Macon Telegraph. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  18. Hudgison, Chris (July 13, 2017). "Ronald Acuna promoted to Gwinnett, Austin Riley promoted to M-Braves". WLBT. Archived from the original on October 15, 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  19. Boor, William (October 12, 2017). "Riley, Braves prospects break out bats in AFL win". MLB.com. Retrieved October 15, 2017.
  20. Bowman, Mark (February 28, 2018). "Mind game: Mental side is Riley's focus". MLB.com. Retrieved March 1, 2018.
  21. "The Top 100 Prospects". Baseball America. Retrieved March 14, 2018.
  22. Dykstra, Sam (May 7, 2018). "Braves' Riley earns promotion to Triple-A". MILB.com. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  23. Wilborn, Nubyjas (May 17, 2018). "Riley wants to be next young star in Braves' lineup". Marietta Daily Journal. Retrieved May 16, 2019 – via Daily Citizen-News.
  24. "Gwinnett Stripers announce 2019 opening night roster". Gwinnett Daily Post. April 3, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  25. Bowman, Mark (May 15, 2019). "Riley almost misses call to big leagues, literally". MLB.com. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  26. "Braves prospect Riley to debut; Inciarte to IL". ESPN.com. Associated Press. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 15, 2019.
  27. "Braves prospect Riley homers in second at-bat". ESPN.com. May 15, 2019. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  28. Bowman, Mark (May 15, 2019). "Braves prospect Riley homers in 2nd MLB AB". MLB.com. Retrieved May 16, 2019.
  29. "Sánchez sparkles as Nationals pound Gausman, Braves 14-4". Yahoo Sports. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  30. "Austin Riley goes on IL with knee sprain". MLB.com. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
  31. Tim Tucker, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "Austin Riley begins rehab assignment Friday after chance to 'reset'". ajc. Retrieved 2019-09-02.
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