{"id":20591,"date":"2019-06-06T11:59:57","date_gmt":"2019-06-06T15:59:57","guid":{"rendered":"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/?p=20591"},"modified":"2019-06-06T11:59:57","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T15:59:57","slug":"austin-riley-acuna-like-enthusiasm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2019\/06\/06\/austin-riley-acuna-like-enthusiasm\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Riley Injecting Acu\u00f1a-Like Enthusiasm to Atlanta Braves"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Six short weeks into the 2019 season the <a href=\"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/mlb-teams\/atlanta-braves\/\" target=\"_self\">Atlanta Braves<\/a> found themselves floundering. The team had limped to a disappointing .500 record. Gold-Glove center fielder <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/i\/inciaen01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ender Inciarte<\/a> <\/strong>suffered an oblique injury and was sent to the injured list. Fortunately for the Braves, <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rileyau01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Austin Riley<\/a> <\/strong>was tearing the cover off the ball in the minors and was ready to join the big league club. Riley\u2019s <a href=\"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/2019\/05\/17\/the-atlanta-braves-promote-austin-riley\/\" target=\"_self\">addition to the team<\/a> injected an enthusiasm into the team similar to last season when<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/acunaro01.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ronald Acu\u00f1a Jr.<\/a> <\/strong>joined the team.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Blissful Ignorance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Austin Riley joined the Braves after swatting 10 home runs and driving in 23 runs in his last 13 games for Gwinnett. Most expected a regression as the 22-year-old tried to simultaneously figure out big league pitching and a new position. The call for tempered expectations turned out to be unnecessary. Riley has continued to<a href=\"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/2019\/05\/15\/austin-riley-spark\/\" target=\"_self\"> hit the ball<\/a> at a scorching pace.<\/p>\n<p>After 19 big league games, Riley is hitting .320 with a 1.069 OPS. In addition, he has hit nine home runs and driven in 26 runs. He is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ajc.com\/sports\/baseball\/look-inside-austin-riley-jaw-dropping-start\/rYNiWbsTNd42DMNpZGlk2J\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">second-fastest player<\/a> to reach 25 RBI in major league history since the stat was first recorded in 1920. The Braves will have some <a href=\"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/2019\/05\/21\/where-could-ender-inciarte-go\/\" target=\"_self\">tough decisions<\/a> to make when Inciarte is ready to return, but it is impossible to imagine a lineup that doesn&#8217;t include Riley at this point.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to his production, Riley&#8217;s approach at the plate has also been refreshing. The rookie isn&#8217;t overthinking and comes to each at-bat with a simple &#8220;see ball, hit ball&#8221; mentality.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Austin Riley: \u201cMe and my agent crack up because he\u2019ll ask me, \u2018Who did you hit the home run off of,\u2019 and I have no clue. I just get up there and swing it.\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ZBplq2qJQw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/ZBplq2qJQw<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/680TheFan\/status\/1135541837299625984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 3, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Transition to the Outfield<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>After the Braves signed <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/donaljo02.shtml?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Josh Donaldson<\/a><\/strong>, the talk in spring training was that Riley would get reps in the outfield. He began the season in Triple-A Gwinnett and played exclusively at the third base early on. The week before the Inciarte injury, Riley did play a few games in the outfield.<\/p>\n<p>Acu\u00f1a got the <a href=\"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/2018\/04\/25\/atlanta-braves-top-prospect-ronald-acuna-debut\/\" target=\"_self\">call-up<\/a> last April and was immediately plugged into a starting role in left field. Riley followed suit after his May 15th promotion. The transition hasn&#8217;t been seamless but he hasn&#8217;t been a liability either. In seventeen games in left field, Riley has made three errors. In comparison, Acu\u00f1a didn&#8217;t commit his third error until game 33 and finished the season with only five. Riley has taken some questionable routes on fly balls but overall has been serviceable while learning a new position at the highest level.<\/p>\n<h2>What&#8217;s Next?<\/h2>\n<p>When Acu\u00f1a was called up his energy, exuberance and playful spirit helped the Braves stay loose on the march to their first NL East title since 2013. Riley brings a different dynamic. He is steady and unflappable.\u00a0 His demeanor suggests that he will work through slumps and be a valuable contributor this season and for seasons to come.<\/p>\n<p>It is unreasonable to expect Riley to keep up the torrid pace (48 HR, 138 RBI) that he is currently on. It is not unreasonable, however, for him to continue to be a major producer hitting in the middle of a potent offense. The reigning NL Rookie of the Month for May could join Acu\u00f1a and give the Braves their second straight <a href=\"lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/\/2018\/11\/13\/ronald-acuna-jr-shohei-ohtani-rookie-year\/\" target=\"_self\">NL Rookie of Year<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo<br \/>\n<a id=\"qQVzSRAxT3dS3nYSkmAkMw\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1148076084\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'qQVzSRAxT3dS3nYSkmAkMw',sig:'CtsavROgGRQ6Tbdn6vB3Q1S1NDeKvRzYPp69WgVfDEM=',w:'594px',h:'396px',items:'1148076084',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Austin Riley has injected the Atlanta Braves with an Acuna-like enthusiasm since being promoted in mid-May. The rookie is producing a record-setting pace. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2939,"featured_media":20625,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[48,977,591,252,1982],"class_list":["post-20591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-braves","category-featured","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-austin-riley","tag-ender-inciarte","tag-josh-donaldson","tag-ronald-acuna-jr"],"modified_by":"Evan Thompson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2939"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20591\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}