Stats Prove Austin Riley Has Completely Turned Around Braves Offense

Austin Riley is really chopping the ball hard this season, and his Atlanta Braves are feeling the reverberations of having such a dynamic presence in their lineup. The rookie 3B/OF has been a sensation since his call-up to the big league level in mid-May, hitting .356 with seven home runs and 20 RBI, with a .397 on-base percentage and a staggering 1.143 OPS in just 15 games played.

It shouldn't be any surprise that Riley has completely changed the complexion of the Braves' lineup, and the stats are only backing this trend up.

As Mark Bowman notes, the Braves went 16-12 in May, but saw their average runs per game increase by over one in the half-month that Riley was slotted in the lineup. Also, looking at the OPS numbers of Braves hitters in May, only two would be considered above-average run producers by the .800 OPS benchmark used for determining such things. Though Freeman's .979 OPS is impressive, it's something of a career habit for him to be a force at the plate. Riley's 1.143 OPS jumps off the page, putting him in difference-maker territory in the early going.

If he continues to put up anything close to these video game numbers the rest of this season, he'll skyrocket his personal stock, as well as his team, to new heights.