Red-hot Riley belts 5th homer in 7 games

Update: Austin Riley was added to the National League All-Star roster on Saturday morning as an injury replacement for Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado.

The Braves have five All-Stars headed to Dodger Stadium next week, the most of any National League team and Atlanta’s most since 2011. They may also have the game’s biggest snub, so far at least.

For that argument consider Austin Riley, who powered Atlanta’s latest thrashing of the Nationals on Friday at Nationals Park. Riley’s first-inning two-run homer set the tone for the Braves' 8-4 victory, their 13th straight win over the Nationals in Washington and their 8th straight over the Nats overall.

“I’m feeling good,” Riley told reporters after the game. “I always said I would consider the Home Run Derby when I’m in the All-Star Game. I’ll leave it at that.”

He certainly has the credentials. It was the fifth homer in seven games for the scorching Riley, who is making his omission from the Midsummer Classic look more and more egregious by the day. Riley is maybe the hottest hitter in baseball right now, riding an 11-game hit streak and hitting .424 with eight homers and 17 RBIs in his last 16 games.

Socking his 26th homer off Patrick Corbin catapulted Riley into the Major League lead in total bases (201); he also ranks second in the National League in homers and third in OPS (.913), and he is one behind teammate Matt Olson for the NL lead in extra-base hits, with 48.

“He‘s having a great, great year,” manager Brian Snitker told reporters after the game. “He’s going to continue to have one, too. So, I’m happy for him.”

But All-Star competition is still at the hot corner, where generational star Manny Machado was elected to start the game for the NL and 9-time Gold Glove winner Nolan Arenado was selected as a reserve. Together, Machado and Arenado have 13 All-Star appearances; Riley has never been an All-Star, and Marlins 1B/DH Garrett Cooper was named the NL’s only position player replacement thus far.

Riley is on record saying he wants to go to the game, and he has as strong a statistical case as any player not yet included. The NL’s Silver Slugger recipient at the position a year ago, Riley leads all NL third basemen in homers, RBIs (60), slugging (.568) and OPS, and he ranks third in runs, wRC+ and fWAR. Either Machado or Arenado lead the categories that Riley doesn’t, and his 26 homers are tied for third-most in baseball and only second behind Kyle Schwarber among NL sluggers.

“Part of me felt like I did enough,” Riley said. “But it is what it is. I get to spend time with my family and my new baby, so I’m not complaining.”

In short, he’s proven himself an elite run producer on one of the sport’s best teams, an essential part of the reigning World Series champion’s designs on another title. He’s also emblematic of how these Braves are winning again, and that’s with power.

“From the get-go, this lineup, one through nine, can change the ballgame with one swing of the bat,” Riley said. “That’s part of our game. We’re never out of it until the very last out.”

Riley is well on pace to eclipse his career-high 33 homers from a year ago, and the Braves remain on pace to break their club record of 249 set in 2019. Their 145 homers lead the NL and are their most in franchise history prior to the All-Star break. Orlando Arcia’s fifth-inning blast Friday broke the club’s previous record, also from ‘19.

“I didn’t realize that until y’all told me,” Snitker said. “I just know that’s how we’re built. That’s what we do.”

Big chunks of that damage have occurred against the Nationals. Atlanta’s win Friday was its 9th consecutive against Corbin, who became the first pitcher to lose at least nine straight starts to one opponent since Danny Duffy (10, to Cleveland) in 2015. The Braves have scored 60 runs (7.5 per game) and hit 25 home runs during their eight-game win streak against the Nationals, and they’ve outscored Washington 85-40 with 35 homers in their last 13 games at Nationals Park (all victories).

Riley, for his part, is hitting .304 (14-for-46) with six home runs and 14 RBIs against the Nats this season. He also contributed a fine defensive play Friday, backhanding a well-struck Maikel Franco grounder behind the third-base bag in the fifth.