Braves: Austin Riley stat proves just how valuable he is to Atlanta’s repeat chances

Austin Riley stat shows just how valuable he is to this Braves team that is looking to repeat as World Series champs.

25-year-old Austin Riley has been one of, if not the, most valuable player on this Atlanta Braves squad over the past few seasons. He is as durable as they come, has a sweet, smooth right-handed swing and has a ton of power.

Last season in 160 games (the most in the NL), he hit 33 home runs, drove in 107 and finished seventh in the NL MVP Award race.

In that time, the slugging third baseman hit the same amount of doubles as he did home runs, 33. So far in the 2022 regular season, he is on pace to shatter that mark, as he has 21 doubles and 22 home runs already through his first 84 games.

As a matter of fact, he stands alone at the top of a list of players in the big leagues with over 20 doubles and 20 home runs to start the year.

Braves: Austin Riley stat proves his value to the club

Riley and fellow corner infielder Matt Olson have put this Braves team on their backs as they look to lift the team to its second consecutive World Series championship.

Olson, part of the super-trade that brought him over from Oakland once the MLB lockout was lifted, has been a huge part of the everyday lineup just as Riley has. Olson actually leads the major leagues in doubles with 33 but he falls short of Riley’s home run count as he has just 13.

While Olson has been worth around 1.6 bWAR to start the year, Riley has been worth 3.0 bWAR, meaning he is worth nearly two whole wins more than Olson is. That just shows how much value Riley truly provides to this lineup.

No matter how you look at it, Riley is one of the most valuable players on this Braves team. After being worth 6.1 bWAR last year, he’s already at 3.0 bWAR this year before the All-Star break and is highly likely to find himself on his first career All-Star Game squad as a reserve when the players are announced later this evening.