Riley headlines Braves' 4 on All-MLB Team
ATLANTA -- Austin Riley headlined the list of Braves elected to the All-MLB team. The young slugger was Atlanta's only First Team selection.
Riley was recognized as the First-Team third baseman when the All-MLB Team was announced on MLB Network on Tuesday. Braves players elected to the Second Team included first baseman Freddie Freeman, second baseman Ozzie Albies and left-hander Max Fried.
The All-MLB honorees were selected via the results of online balloting, which was available over the past two weeks on MLB.com.
Riley
The 24-year-old third baseman finished seventh in National League MVP balloting and won his first Silver Slugger Award after hitting .303 with 33 homers, 107 RBIs and an .898 OPS. He joined Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Chipper Jones, Andruw Jones and Wally Berger as the only Braves to hit .300 during a 30-homer, 100-RBI season.
Riley's 135 wRC+ ranked second among all MLB third basemen, trailing only Cleveland’s José Ramírez (137).
Freeman
The 2020 NL MVP started the season slow, but he ended up hitting .300 with 31 homers and an .896 OPS. Freeman joined Aaron, Jones, Mathews and Dale Murphy as the only players in Braves history to hit 30 homers with a .300 batting average in multiple seasons.
This year's First Team first baseman was the Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who led all first basemen with a 166 wRC+. Freeman ranked sixth at his position with a 135 wRC+.
Albies
Albies hit .259 with a career-high 30 homers, 106 RBIs and a .799 OPS. The 24-year-old second baseman ranked second in the NL with 77 extra-base hits. He earned his second Silver Slugger Award and was named the 2021 Heart and Hustle Award winner last week.
The Blue Jays' Marcus Semien was voted the First Team second baseman.
Fried
The lefty hurler won a second consecutive Gold Glove Award and earned his first Silver Slugger Award. Fried posted a 3.04 ERA over 28 starts and led MLB with a 1.74 ERA after the All-Star break. He hit .273 and constructed a .649 OPS over 67 plate appearances. Still, his impressive all-around performance wasn't enough to be one of the five pitchers elected to the First Team.