As the Atlanta Braves look to find their footing, attention to who has departed from the team in recent years has been evaluated. Freddie Freeman is a Dodger. Dansby Swanson is a Cub. Max Fried is a Yankee. It has arguably changed the dynamic of the clubhouse, leading some to question the leadership present.
Third baseman Austin Riley has caught wind of the speculation and wanted to put that to bed. While he was on 680 The Fan, Riley expressed his opposition for the notion. The team is still full of guys who have been there and can lead the way.
“You look at Chris Sale. You look at Marcell Ozuna. You know, myself, Olson. The conversations that need to be had have been had,” he said. “Not gonna get into any detail, but like I said, there’s guys that have baseball cards. They’ve done it. They’ve been around for numerous of years. So, when guys say the lack of leadership. I’m not sure I agree with that.”
— 680 The Fan (@680TheFan) June 16, 2025
Riley said the accountability has been there and everyone has kept it together despite all the losing. It could have started to get out of hand, and that hasn’t been the case.
“This team has been through a lot of downs, obviously, and I think guys have handled in a great way,” he said. “You could easily have guys in there pointing fingers, placing blame, calling people out, saying you need to do this and you haven’t seen that. And I think there’s something to be said about that.”
Riley expressed his lack of satisfaction. He said his numbers were there, but he felt like the production wasn’t coming. He’s batting .281 with 11 home runs and 36 RBIs. With runners in scoring position, he’s batting .333 with an .825 OPS. Change that to simply when men are on base, his OPS goes up to .905.
So, the self-accountability is there. He was unafraid to be transparent about his performance on live radio. On to the other issues still plaguing the team then.
As bad as it’s been this season, a major takeaway is that it could have spiraled out a lot harder than it has at times already simply because they’ve managed to stay level headed. That could potentially get them back on track or it’ll be help as they learn for next season. We’ll know in time.
