The Atlanta Braves were bounced early from the MLB postseason once again, and in the aftermath Braves fans understandably pointed their frustration in Ronald Acuña Jr.'s direction. It's hard to blame them, after Acuña went just 2-for-15 in the NLDS and 3-for-24 in the postseason overall. He doesn't even have a postseason RBI since 2020. He's won an MVP more recently!
Add in the fact that Acuña is an oft-injured outfielder who is coming off a down regular season, and Braves fans are extremely concerned about what's to come with the 28-year-old in 2027 (and beyond). This makes sense, as Atlanta will have a hard time competing for, let alone winning, a World Series without a star version of Acuña showing up in October. With that being said, he isn't the player Braves fans should be most concerned about moving forward. That distinction should belong to Austin Riley.
Austin Riley has a lot to prove for the Braves in 2027
Riley was a bona fide star for the Braves not too long ago. He put together three straight seasons of 30+ home runs, 90+ RBI and 30+ doubles, while posting a combined .878 OPS and finishing in the top seven in the NL MVP balloting three times in that stretch. He was, by any metric, one of the best players in the sport from 2021 through 2023.
It's been a decline from the 29-year-old since, but his struggles in 2024 (.783 OPS) and 2025 (.737 OPS) could at least partially be attributed to injuries. Well, he was fully healthy in 2026, appearing in 159 of Atlanta's 162 games, yet he had the worst season of his career.
Riley slashed .219/.290/.364 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI this year, striking out a career-high 201 times. He had an 81 wRC+, good for 127th out of 135 qualified position players. For reference, Andres Gimenez, a player known almost solely for his glove, had that same mark. He went from hitting in the middle of the Braves order at the beginning of the year to seventh and eighth most nights down the stretch.
He was one of the worst hitters in the sport, and only looked worse in the postseason. Sure, he had the massive home run against Jhoan Duran in the Wild Card series opener, but he went 1-for-21 with seven strikeouts beyond that, including 0-for-13 with six strikeouts in the NLDS.
Even Riley admitted that he needs to be better, saying he wasn't nearly as consistent as he should have been.
Austin Riley: “I have to be better. I was terrible all year. I had some stretches where I showed life, but this is a game of consistency and it wasn’t that this year.”
— Gabe Burns (@GabeBurnsAJC) October 8, 2026
Austin Riley needs to be better, especially as the Braves' highest paid player
Given all he's accomplished, it'd be fair to assume Acuña is the highest-paid Brave, but he isn't even the second-highest-paid player on his team. Acuña's eight-year, $100 million deal signed back in 2019 is the third-highest on the team, trailing Matt Olson and, you guessed it, Riley. Riley signed a 10-year, $212 million extension with the Braves, meaning he's making more than double the money Acuña is. He is the highest-paid player in franchise history.
With such a contract come lofty expectations. The extension made sense at the time, as Riley was in the middle of his run as a superstar, but it's worth noting that since the deal kicked in at the start of the 2023 campaign, he's been a shell of himself. Again, injuries can be partially blamed for two of those years, but he was healthy by all accounts in 2026, yet he was even worse at the plate.
Riley is under contract through the 2032 campaign, meaning there are still six more years that the Braves need to worry about (plus a club option for 2033). If this is the player he is going to be from now on, that's a major issue. Acuña had a down year, but he is on a team-friendly contract and isn't locked up long-term. Riley has had several rough years in a row, and he isn't even halfway through the richest deal in franchise history. The Braves need more from Acuña, but they need even more from Riley, and have less of a reason to believe in him performing to expectations.
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