The Atlanta Braves kept Austin Riley in the 7th spot for Friday night’s lineup against the New York Mets, leaving one of their most experienced hitters lower in the order as the club opened a series at Truist Park in Georgia. Riley went into the game after finishing with one hit and one strikeout in four at-bats the previous night.
The lineup decision matters because it came on a night the Braves needed a cleaner offensive start. They entered Friday off an 11-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and had lost eight of their last ten games, a stretch that has put more attention on where Riley fits in the batting order. The 29-year-old is in his eighth season with the Braves and has moved around in the lineup many times this season, a sign that the club has been searching for the right mix.
Riley’s numbers explain why the search has continued. The two-time MLB All-Star was batting.208 with 64 hits, eight home runs, 38 RBIs, 33 runs and four stolen bases in 85 games, production that does not match his track record. That is the friction inside Friday’s decision: a player with that resume is still being asked to hit lower in the order while the Braves try to pull out of their recent slide.
The club has already been working around the edges of that problem. On July 1, Grant McAuley said Walt Weiss had mentioned that Riley and Chipper Jones had held several conversations in hopes of helping turn the season around, and Riley and Jones were spotted by the batting cage before Wednesday’s game. The message was plain enough: the Braves are looking for a spark, but they have not found one that lets them move Riley back up with confidence.
Friday’s game against the New York Mets was the next chance to see whether the lower spot changes anything for Riley or for the Braves. If the offense does not respond, the lineup card will only make the question sharper: how long can Atlanta keep one of its central hitters this far down while the losses keep piling up?
