At least one struggling Braves star might finally be turning a corner

Many reasons explain why the Atlanta Braves have been arguably the most disappointing MLB team this season, but one of them has to do with their underperforming star position players. At least one of those stars, Austin Riley, finally appears to be turning things around.

Marcell Ozuna might be hurt, but he looks like a shell of the player he had been the past couple of years for Atlanta. Ozzie Albies has struggled to the point where it's fair to wonder how much time in Atlanta he has left. Michael Harris has looked lost all season long. Riley might not have been as disappointing as that trio, but he was performing far below the high standards Braves fans had set for him. Fortunately, he's starting to show signs that his breakout has arrived.

Riley launched a hanging breaking ball over the fence for his 14th home run of the season. Say what you want about this long ball coming at a minor league park against the Athletics, but Riley is showing notable improvement at the plate. This, combined with how he's traditionally performed in July and in second halves, gives Braves fans reason to believe he's back.

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Austin Riley is finally starting to break out for the Braves

Riley entered the day with nine hits in 29 at-bats in July (.310 batting average) with four extra-base hits. Small sample size, obviously, but he had multiple hits in three of his first seven games this month. To put into perspective how things were going for him in June, Riley had three multi-hit performances in his final 18 games of that month.

So far on Wednesday, Riley has a 105.5 mph double and a bullet of a home run. He's 2-for-2 with a pair of extra-base hits. That's already his second game of two extra-base hits this month. The last time he accomplished this was on May 29 in Philadelphia.

Riley obviously has more work to do, but the signs are obviously there that he's starting to turn a corner at the dish. His career track record would suggest the best is yet to come for the 28-year-old.

Austin Riley always thrives this time of year

Riley has traditionally been a great player year-round, but he's always been a better performer in second halves than first halves. In his career, Riley's .818 OPS in the first half is 54 points lower than his .872 OPS in the second half.

Notably, Riley has always been at his best in the month of July. In his career, Riley has slashed .293/.347/.602 with 38 home runs and 98 RBI in 159 appearances in July entering Wednesday's action. Obviously, those numbers have only perked up after his strong start to this game.

Riley has always been a good player, but he performs like a superstar in July. Whether it's Riley getting fully settled in, him wanting to perform well enough to avoid getting traded, or wanting to play like an All-Star around the All-Star break, I don't know, but the month of July agrees with him for whatever reason.

It might be too late for the Braves to turn their season around, but Riley finishing his season strongly would certainly go a long way toward getting Braves fans excited for 2026 and beyond. Riley is locked in long-term on the most lucrative deal in franchise history. Having him perform like the superstar Braves fans expect him to be is a big deal.