Riley is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Giants, marking his second straight absence.
According to Mark Bowman of MLB.com, Riley finds himself on the bench for the second day in a row not because he's dealing with an injury or an illness, but because manager Brian Snitker wants to give the 25-year-old a proper day off. That was supposed to happen Wednesday, but Riley ended up playing the final two innings of Atlanta's 4-3 win. Riley may still be available in a pinch-hitting capacity Thursday, but Snitker ideally prefers to keep him out of the field for the day.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Takes seat Wednesday
Rotowire
Riley isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Giants.
Riley has been an everyday player for Atlanta this season but will get a breather after he went 4-for-12 with a double, two runs, an RBI, a walk and two strikeouts over the last three games. Orlando Arcia is shifting to third base while Phil Gosselin starts at the keystone.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Goes yard twice Wednesday
Rotowire
Riley went 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI in Wednesday's 8-2 win over the Nationals.
The third baseman helped Atlanta pull away in the contest with two-run blasts in the seventh and eighth innings. Riley's 18 homers on the season have him tied with Pete Alonso for the National League lead, and six of those rockets have come in June -- a month in which he's slashing .271/.338/.644 with 13 runs and 14 RBI in 14 games.
Riley went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Saturday's 10-4 win over the Pirates.
Riley tied the game at 2-2 with his first-inning solo shot. He also hit a single and scored on an Ozzie Albies grand slam in the seventh. Through 10 games in June, Riley has gone 13-for-43 (.302), hitting safely in seven of those contests with four homers, 10 RBI and 10 runs scored. The third baseman continues to provide power with 16 homers and an .864 OPS while adding 35 RBI, 34 runs scored and a pair of stolen bases through 59 games this year. Half of his long balls this year have come since May 25.
Riley went 2-for-4 with a walk, a home run, three RBI and two runs scored Wednesday against the Athletics.
Riley delivered a two-run home run in the fifth inning to record his 15th homer of the campaign. He added an RBI single two frames later and now has five home runs with 13 RBI and 12 runs scored across his last 10 starts. Riley has proven his 2021 breakout to be legitimate to this point by maintaining a .375 wOBA and 138 wRC+ across 247 plate appearances.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Slugs 13th homer
Rotowire
Riley went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 6-0 win over the Diamondbacks.
He gave Atlanta some insurance by taking Noe Ramirez deep in the seventh inning. Riley extended his hitting streak to 10 games in the process, a stretch during which he's batting .390 (16-for-41) with five of his 13 homers and 10 of his 28 RBI on the season.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Continues power surge Monday
Rotowire
Riley went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's loss to the Diamondbacks.
Riley accounted for the Braves' second run with his 402-foot solo shot in the fourth inning. The long ball was his 12th of the campaign, placing him in a tie for fourth place in the National League. Four of his homers have come in his past six games, and he has gone 8-for-24 with five RBI over that stretch.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Launches homer No. 10
Rotowire
Riley went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 6-4 win over the Marlins.
He connected on his 10th homer of the year in the fifth inning off Trevor Rogers. Riley has had a tough month of May for the most part, but he appears to be heating up again, hitting safely in five straight games while going 8-for-20 (.400) with a double and two long balls.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Socks eighth homer
Rotowire
Riley went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run in Wednesday's 7-6 extra-innings loss to the Brewers.
The third baseman took Corbin Burnes deep in the third to get Atlanta on the board. The blast snapped a 13-game homer drought for Riley, a stretch during which he hit only .157 (8-for-51) with a single RBI. He carries a .799 OPS with eight home runs and 18 RBI through 37 games.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Loses arbitration case
Rotowire
Riley will receive a $3.95 million contract for 2022 after losing his arbitration case with Atlanta on Wednesday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
He'll settle for a salary of $250,000 lower that he was hoping for after filing for $4.2 million. Riley's uncertain salary situation heading into 2022 hasn't prevented him from getting off to a respectable start to the season, as he heads into Wednesday's series finale with the Red Sox with a .336 on-base average and seven home runs through 30 games.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Keeps slugging Monday
Rotowire
Riley went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 5-2 win over the Mets.
He got Atlanta on the board in the fourth inning, taking a Chris Bassitt slider deep to left-center field to begin a comeback from a 2-0 deficit. Riley is in one of his grooves as five of his seven homers on the season have come in the last nine games, a stretch during which he's slashing .297/.350/.784.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Mashes sixth homer
Rotowire
Riley went 2-for-5 with a double and a two-run home run in Friday's 6-3 win over the Rangers.
The third baseman took Garrett Richards deep in the first inning, giving Atlanta a lead it would never relinquish. Riley is having one of his patented hot streaks, slugging four of his six homers on the season over the last six games to push his slash line up to .282/.371/.603.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Slugs fifth long ball
Rotowire
Riley went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a 5-1 win over the Cubs on Thursday.
Riley gave the Braves an early lead with a 429-foot solo shot to left field in the first inning. The blast was his fifth of the campaign, tied for seventh-most in the league. Three of Riley's long balls have come in his past five games.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Dominant against Marlins
Rotowire
Riley went 3-for-5 with a homer, two doubles, two RBI and a strikeout in Sunday's 5-4 loss to Miami.
Atlanta struggled to generate much offensive production in Sunday's matchup, but Riley kept the team in the game with his three extra-base hits, including a two-run blast with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning. The 25-year-old has 10 extra-base hits in 16 appearances this season, and he's slashed .295/.394/.590 with four homers, six doubles, 10 runs, nine RBI and a stolen base.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Launches third homer
Rotowire
Riley went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Saturday's 9-7 loss to the Marlins.
He helped chase Elieser Hernandez from the game with his fifth-inning shot, one of three homers and six extra-base hits for Atlanta on the day. Riley is so far showing that last year's breakout wasn't a fluke, slashing .268/.379/.500 through 15 games with three homers, seven RBI and nine runs.
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Braves' Austin Riley: Reinstated from paternity list
Rotowire
Riley was reinstated from the paternity list Friday.
Riley was away from the team for a couple days but should be available for Friday's series opener against Miami. In five appearances prior to the lone game he missed, he went 6-for-20 with two doubles, three runs, an RBI and a stolen base.
